School of Social and Political Science

Introduction

Failed Again: The Fault-lines in Utopia

In this second workshop, we seek to explore how failure is experienced and navigated within utopia. Utopias are often condemned to fail. Seen as fanciful, irresponsible and delusional, the radical dreaming of utopias falters and crumbles. There are many ways in which utopias are thwarted and fail. Some utopian projects break down because they are ‘too good to be practicable’, others fail to create a radical departure from contemporary political, economic, and social situations. Indeed, critics of utopianism consider this inherent failure an essential part of utopian thinking. The emotional and material costs of a failed utopia can be prohibitive and demoralising, with a perceived failure stalling political and social change. But what if failure was intentionally built into the fabric of utopia, if ‘fault-lines’ were purposefully incorporated to promote reflection, revisions and renewal? Our discussions in this workshop will consider what failure means within utopian projects and explore the responses to instances of failure across articulations of utopias, including utopian fiction, design initiatives, and intentional communities.   

The workshop will explore several questions. These include: How and why do utopias fail? How do utopian projects and their creators respond, productively, negatively, emotionally and practically to experiences of failure within utopia? How is failure acknowledged, understood and conceptualised within utopias? In what ways is failure built into and incorporated within utopian projects? These and related questions will guide the discussion during this second workshop.