Utopian Thinking Helps Us Create a Better Future

The question becomes: how should we treat these sometimes naive-sounding depictions of coming political and economic changes, far from the current status quo? Conservatively minded thinkers tend to see these utopian visions only as dystopian. These books may contain seeds of ideas generating future transformations, however. It’s important to see utopias and dystopias as having political utility. Utopian thinking, opening up new ideas and fostering progress, is socially and politically beneficial; dystopias serve as warnings and help preserve the status quo. Indeed, ideas possess real influence, thus control over their spread can serve as a tool for those in power who would maintain that status quo.

Let’s start with the observation that recent technological progress is in evidence. ChatGPT’s capabilities and those of other generative AI tools have disrupted many industries. A growing percentage of global energy comes from solar sources. The promises of new space adventures and achievements in genetics sound astonishing. However, progress doesn’t occur in a vacuum; it has real impact on how we think about the future. What’s more, the social sciences aren’t at a loss about the pace of changes in science and technology; we are witnessing a mutually reinforcing process of transformation today.

As noted above, there has been a noticeable increase of books with a positive outlook on the future. They indicate political and economic changes that are increasingly under discussion and regarded as prospects for improving our daily existence. As examples, the economist Thomas Piketty has called for a progressive, global wealth tax to be implemented to combat income inequality. The Dutch journalist Rutger Bregman advances several utopian visions in his renowned book Utopia for Realists, including open borders and a 15-hour workweek. Aaron Bastani, in Fully Automated Luxury Communism, argues that advancing methods of energy production will help achieve widespread prosperity, or at least safeguard our societies during times of great crisis. At first glance, these proposals may seem naive, but are they really? Couldn’t envisioning utopian futures be a driving force for development and progress?

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What is a utopia? 

So, what exactly is a utopia? The term originates from Greek, with ou-topos meaning “no-place.” Since it’s a “place that doesn’t exist,” what is the political utility of the concept of utopia? Fredric Jameson contends that utopian thinking doesn’t lie in the realm of philosophical belief but in something closer to existential experience – namely, in an anticipation of forthcoming and potential events. It opens new future possibilities and outlines new developmental paths.

Utopian thinking is highly advantageous, a necessary step in processes leading to change and progress. We shouldn’t have dire anticipations about dystopias in every utopian proposal, as conservative-minded thinkers tend to do. Utopian thinking isn’t dragging the sin of pride, it’s attempting to break the status quo. According to Jameson, “utopianism must feed off the empirical conviction that a radically different future is possible, and that real change exists”; this conviction can only be created by “social conditions and circumstances.” Unfortunately, utopian thinking is held back by the decline of genuinely radical political parties daring to think in the long term, and by ongoing globalization reducing possibilities for national communities to develop (the EU, where nation-states are reduced to member states, is an ideal example of this process).

It must be acknowledged that many solutions once considered utopian are now regarded as mundane. For instance, in the mid-nineteenth century, André Godin, inspired by Charles Fourier’s feminist and socialist writings, founded the collectively managed village Familistère, with kindergartens, libraries, dining halls, and a theater, which operated for 109 years. Today, cohousing communities and ecovillages worldwide draw new residents daily and are in no way out of the ordinary. In Godin’s day, though, he was ridiculed by serious socialists. Friedrich Engels considered Godin’s community bourgeois.”

Acting Outside the Box

Unfortunately, dystopian future visions are established in our media landscape and this isn’t a coincidence. Cynicism and passivity are more fashionable than naive optimism. Mindlessly consuming and passively contemplating the impending climate apocalypse are easier than crafting narratives about change at the global scale. Ideas proposing alternative solutions to private property or family meet fierce opposition and often get nipped in the bud. And resticting the spread of new ideas can be a tool for those in charge who aim to sustain the status quo and don’t support the awareness that viable alternatives exist to current solutions that they are applying. Upholding a dystopian media climate may be deliberate as governing factions try to counteract real change.

Kristen R. Ghodsee strives to break with this paradigm with her book Everyday Utopia: What 2000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life. Ghodsee aims to revive the debate about communes and new ways of communal living; in her view, the prevalence of the nuclear-family model contributes to mounting dissatisfaction with life and feelings of loneliness. Ghodsee presents numerous alternative models of communal living, domestic labor, and child-rearing – models offering improved care, better social relations, reduced workloads, and increased economic security. Collective living rearranges our value system and can help alleviate many of capitalism’s maladies, from chronic overwork to loneliness. Most of us know precious little about utopian communities Ghodsee describes, and often have a negative sense of alternative communities. Furthermore, the social climate encourages mockery of hippie communes, not because it actually matters if some people share lovers and laundry, but because spreading such ideas isn’t politically expedient from the viewpoint of those in power.

In conclusion, utopian future visions are essential tools in the process of effecting change: they stimulate imagination and encourage pursuing solutions that drive progress. Prevailing dystopian thinking in the current media climate, however, seems to serve as a warning about potential consequences of misusing technology and power, yet it serves above all as a means of political influence for those in power intent on maintaining existing structures. Naturally, some energy cooperatives and friendly communes aren’t going to change the world. Yet such experiments contribute significantly to transforming individualistic culture and, importantly, encourage the search for new solutions. While it’s essential to maintain critical thinking in the face of widespread changes in science and technology and the emergence of new utopias, we shouldn’t shut ourselves off from new ideas that can offer a better tomorrow.