Utopian thinking in law, politics, architecture and technology : : hope in a hopeless world / / edited by Bart van Kirk, Marta Soniewicka, Leon van den Broeke.

• TeilnehmendeR: van Kirk, Bart,; Soniewicka, Marta,; Broeke, Leon van den,; Edward Elgar Publishing,
• Place / Publishing House: Cheltenham, England ;, Northampton, Massachusetts : : Edward Elgar Publishing,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (320 pages)
• Notes: Includes index.

"This innovative book explores the role of utopian thinking in law and politics, including alternative forms of social engineering, such as technology and architecture. Building on Levitas' Utopia as Method, the topic of utopia is addressed within the book from a multidisciplinary perspective. The book addresses central questions surrounding utopian thinking: What are its implications for law and politics? To what extent does it constitute a desirable vision? What are its risks or dangers? How is utopia related to ideology? An impressive selection of contributors reflect on the challenge of utopianism and its attraction, advancing the global public debate on social and political issues. Divided into three accessible parts, this book discusses the relationship between utopia and the law, the notion of utopian politics and utopia in architecture and technology. Addressing the topic of utopia from a variety of perspectives, this book will be an interesting read for academic scholars and students in the field of law, legal and political theory, philosophy, ethics, sociology, religious studies, technology and architecture. In particular, it is relevant for scholars who are interested in the dynamics of social, legal and political change"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright -- Contents -- Contributors -- PART I Utopia and the law: Sketches for a new society -- 1. Introduction: A return to utopia -- 2. Finding hope in hopeless times -- 3. The rule of law: Between ideology and utopia -- 4. Legislative hope and utopia -- 5. A secular form of grace: A place for utopia in law -- PART II Utopian politics: Redemption or a 'recipe for bloodshed'? -- 6. The politics of hope: Utopia as an exercise in social imagination -- 7. The utopian ideals of the political order of the European Union: Is a European republic possible? -- 8. 'The coming community': Agamben's vision of messianic politics -- 9. The allure of utopia: Klaas Schilder's stress on the relevance of -- 10. The Islamic state -- PART III Utopia in architecture and technology: The quest for perfection -- 11. An ideal city vs 21st-century pragmatism -- 12. Planning utopia -- 13. Technological utopias: Promises of the unlimited -- 14. A better way of being? Human rights, transhumanism and 'the utopian standpoint of man' -- 15. The posthuman: Around the vanishing point of utopia -- 16. Being an agent in a robot and artificial intelligence age: Potentiality or dystopia? -- Index.