Topics in Critical Theory: Utopia’s Eclipse? The Horizon of Political Hope in the Wake of Empire and Revolution
The twentieth century was a time of extraordinary political hope associated with socialist and anti-colonial struggles that promised to usher in new forms of human freedom. However, by the 1980s, this hope had given way to catastrophe as the horizons of political possibility and revolutionary aspiration characterizing these struggles collapsed. How do we reckon with this collapse, and what does it mean to make a life for oneself in the wake of these failed emancipatory projects?
This course seeks to explore this question by examining the place of utopian thinking, broadly understood, in the history of anticolonial and postcolonial struggles in the twentieth century and by reading this strain of thought in light of the doubts that certain thinkers have raised about the possibility of attaining utopia’s promise. We will also examine debates about the possibilities of renewed utopian thinking in the present and will consider whether critical resources might be gleaned from the revolutionary failures of the twentieth century.
This is a 3CT capstone course. Enrollment is limited to students who have completed their SOSC Core requirement.
PLSC 22205 | CCCT 22205 | CRES 23205
