The Utopian Studies Society (founded 1988) is a European interdisciplinary association devoted to the study of

utopia 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 societ ...

nism in all its forms. The Society was established by a group of British scholars following an international conference on the subject at

New Lanark New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...

, the site of a famous experiment in industrial organisation by the early socialist Robert Owen. The Society was re-launched in 1999, following the "Millennium of Utopias" conference at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. Although the scholarly journal

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 Nicol ...

is published by the North American Society for Utopian Studies, as of 2016 its editor, editorial assistant and book review editors were located in Europe and were members of the Utopian Studies Society. Prominent utopian studies scholars associated with the European Society include Gregory Claeys,

Lyman Tower Sargent Lyman Tower Sargent (born 9 February 1940) is an American academic, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Sargent's main academic interests are in utopian studies, political theory, American studies and ...

Ruth Levitas Ruth Levitas (born 15 May 1949 in London) is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol. She is well known internationally for her research on utopia and utopian studies. Her book, ''The Concept of Utopia'' (19 ...

, Tom Moylan, Raffaella Baccolini, Artur Blaim, Vincent Geoghegan, Lucy Sargisson and Fatima Vieira.

Conferences

The Society has organized a series of conferences: *2022:

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, England. *2021: University of Porto, Portugal. *2020: The 2020 conference was scheduled to be held at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, Rumania, but was cancelled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. *2019: Monash University, Prato Centre, Italy. *2018: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain *2017:

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

, Poland. *2016:

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

, Portugal. *2015: Newcastle University, England. *2014: Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. *2013: New Lanark, Scotland. *2012: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. *2011:

University of Cyprus The University of Cyprus (Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου) is a public research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It admitted its first students in 1992 and has approximately 7000 students. History The University of Cyprus wa ...

, Republic of Cyprus. *2010:

Maria Curie-Sklodowska University Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, Lublin, Poland. *2009: University of Porto, Portugal. *2008:

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

, Republic of Ireland. *2007:

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, England. *2006: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. *2005: New Lanark, Scotland. *2004: University of Porto, Portugal. *2003:

European University of Madrid European University of Madrid (''Universidad Europea de Madrid'' in Spanish language, UEM) is a private university in Madrid, Spain. History Founded in 1995, the school was purchased in 1999 by Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. In 2004, Sylvan L ...

, Spain. *2002:

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, England. *2000: University of Nottingham, England. *1999:

, England. The 2023 conference is scheduled to be held at the

, Rumania. A number of significant publications have arisen from these conferences.For example: P. Gallardo and E. Russell (eds) ''Yesterday's Tomorrows: On Utopia and Dystopia'' Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2014; A. Blaim and L. Gruszewska Blaim (eds) ''Spectres of Utopia: Theory, Practice, Conventions'' Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 2012.

Awards

At its 2019 conference the Society conferred a Distinguished Service Award on Professor

Darko Suvin Darko Ronald Suvin (born Darko Šlesinger) is a Yugoslav-born academic, writer and critic who became a professor (now emeritusDavid JohnstonConvocation: Honorary degrees and emeritus professorships McGill Reporter, Volume 33, No. 05, November ...

, its Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker. At its 2021 conference the Society conferred a Lifetime Achievement Award on Professor

References

External links

Utopian Studies SocietyNew Lanark World Heritage Site
Organizations established in 1988 Learned societies of the United Kingdom Literary societies Utopian studies {{org-stub