This isn’t just a blog about utopias. It is a blog about just utopias. That is to say, environmentally, socially and racially just utopias. Green utopias. Anti-racist utopias. Feminist utopias. Decolonised utopias.
Utopia has a complicated history, which is mixed up with colonialism and the birth of global capitalism. It is a tool that many want to employ today to imagine greener, better futures. But to be used effectively, utopia itself may first need to be reimagined.
I find myself thinking a lot about what might constitute a just utopia. Both in terms of the habits and inhabitants of the fictional society and the form of the literary text, i.e. how does it use and/or change the genre of utopia? By sharing my thoughts on utopia in this blog I hope to open them up to dialogue. I would love to know what you think; please tell me in the comments.
Utopias, plural
This isn’t a quest to find or decide on one perfect utopia. On the contrary, it’s about exploring the practice of imagining various alternative ways of being. It’s about finding texts that open up the possibility of innumerable futures that are different and better than ones we might otherwise accept as inevitable.
Books, books, books
This is a blog about books. I know people are out there building intentional communities. But I don’t want to be pinned down. I want the fantastical, the science-fictional, the impossibles that allow us to imagine beyond what currently exists and express our desires.
With all that established, head over to the blog and let’s begin!
About the author
Hi I’m Sheryl, I live in a village on the edge of Bristol, UK with my husband and our son.
I have an MA in Literature, Landscape & Environment from Bath Spa University. The rest of this blog should tell you all you need to know about my areas of interest!
I am convener of the Bristol Utopian Book Collective.
Illustration by @crosbietweets. Bonus points to anyone who can read the T-shirt.