The Politics of the (Im)Possible: Utopia and Dystopia Reconsidered
Author(s): Barnita Bagchi
Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd
Publication Date: 30 May 2012
Edition: First Edition
Language: English
Print length: 249 pages
ISBN-10: 8132107349
ISBN-13: 9788132107347
Book Description
This volume brings together articles on utopia and dystopia in a breadth of disciplines-history, literature, gender studies, political science, sociology, anthropology, and Native American Studies.
Utopia and dystopia are modes and resonances present in all parts of the world, not just Europe and white North America. Equally, utopian and dystopian thought and practice are and have always been gendered. Utopia, memory and temporality often intersect in strange and surprising ways.
Three dimensions are thus central to the enterprise undertaken in this volume:
1 The relationship between utopia/dystopia and time/memory
2 The focus on Europe and areas outside Europe at the same time
3 The gendered analysis of utopia/dystopia
Contributors to this volume include prominent experts in fields as varied as Development Studies, Cultural Studies, Women′s Studies and Literature.
Editorial Reviews
Review
The book presents an in-depth philosophical account of why ′utopia has been the mother of exact sciences. Writings of different thinkers on utopia and dystopia display a rather complex interplay between the actual and the possible, dream and reality and ideal or the monstrous communities. A must read
— The Tribune
This anthology brings together chapters on utopia and dystopia from a rich breadth of disciplines….What is significant about this volume is that it makes readers realize that utopia/dystopia studies cannot be and are not restricted to any period of time and place. — The Statesman Published On: 2013-08-18
From the Back Cover
Brings together articles on utopia and dystopia in a breadth of disciplines – history, literature, gender studies, political science, sociology, anthropology, and Native American Studies. This title revolves around a word coined by Sir Thomas More which has become one of the most resonant concepts in the history of ideas: ‘Utopia’.
About the Author
Barnita Bagchi is faculty in Literary Studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She was previously a faculty member at Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK), India. She is an Executive Committee Member of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE).
Her published books include Pliable Pupils and Suffi cient Self-Directors: Narratives of Female Education by Five British Women Writers, 1778–1814 (2004); Webs of History: Information, Communication, and Technology from Early to Post-Colonial India (co-edited with A.K. Bagchi and D. Sinha, 2005); and a critical edition and part translation, Sultana’s Dream and Padmarag: Two Feminist Utopias.
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