What Does ‘Utopia’ Mean to You?

Amid the climate crisis, growing isolation and increasing economic disparities, many of us feel trapped in a doom loop — one where it feels more natural to imagine a dystopian future than a utopian one. But envisioning ways the world could be better can be an antidote to despair, say proponents of utopian thinking. “Depending on what is going on in the world, humanity has always looked to utopias for inspiration,” writes Kristen Ghodsee, author of “Everyday Utopia.” We’ll talk about how past utopian experiments can inspire future social change and hear about the benefits of using utopian thinking in our daily lives and communities.

Guests:

Kristen R. Ghodsee, professor of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania; author, "Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life"

William Paris, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto; author, the forthcoming book “Racial Justice and Forms of Life: Towards a Critical Theory of Utopia”

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