Utopianism

Critical utopia

Critical utopia is a theory conceptualised by literary theorist Tom Moylan. In contrast with utopianism, critical utopia rejects utopia. The idea is highly self-referential, and uses the idea of utopia to advance society while simultaneously critiquing it. A limitation of utopianism is defined: the imagined utopia is significantly distant from current society. Utopia also fails to acknowledge the differences between people that result in differences in experience. Moylan explains that "[critical utopias] ultimately refer to something other than a predictable alternative paradigm, for at their core they identify self-critical utopian discourse itself as a process that can tear apart the dominant ideological web. Here, then, critical utopian discourse becomes a seditious expression of social change and popular sovereignty carried on in a permanently open process of envisioning what is not yet."