Real utopian sociology is an
emancipatory social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
created and practiced by
Erik Olin Wright
Erik Olin Wright (February 9, 1947 – January 23, 2019) was an American analytical Marxist sociologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in social stratification and in egalitarian alternative futures to capitalism. He w ...
, a
utopian studies
''Utopian Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles on utopias and utopianism. The journal is published twice a year by the Penn State University Press on behalf of the Society for Utopian Studies. The Editor is Nicole ...
scholar. The apparent contradiction in its name is intentional: this
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
seeks to find existing
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
projects and evaluate their potential to replace systems of domination, particularly as an
anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...
strategy.
Simply put, real utopian sociology is the study of feasible utopian models for society and pathways to achieve them.
Overview
Starting in 1991, Wright organized a series of workshop conferences known as ''The Real Utopian Project'' that model the practice of real utopian sociology.
The conferences are sponsored by the A.E. Havens Center for Social Justice at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
and structured around "a provocative manuscript that lays out the basic outlines of a radical institutional proposal."
This manuscript is then sent to 15–20 scholars, who write essays on the topic. Prior to the conference these essays are circulated to all the conference participants and then each is discussed at the conference. Following the conference, participants have the opportunity to revise their work before it’s collectively published in Verso’s ''Real Utopias Project'' series; with the exception of papers from the first 1991 conference, which were not published as a series.
Past conference topics include:
Basic Income Grants;
Secondary Associations and Democratic Governance; A Model for
Market Socialism
Market socialism is a type of economic system involving the public, cooperative, or social ownership of the means of production in the framework of a market economy, or one that contains a mix of worker-owned, nationalized, and privately owned ...
, which was organized around the book, ''A Future for Socialism'', rather than a manuscript; Efficient Redistribution in Advanced Capitalism; Deepening Democracy; Rethinking Redistribution; Pensions and the Control of Capital Accumulation;
[ Institutions for Gender Egalitarianism: Creating the Conditions for Egalitarian Dual Earner/Dual Caregiver Families; Legislature by Lot;][
]
See also
* Digital socialism
References
Marxist sociology
Utopian studies
Marxist theory
{{Socio-stub