The Politics of the (Im)Possible
Utopia and Dystopia Reconsidered
Published on 22. May 2026
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-81-269-4352-4 (ISBN)
Description
This volume brings together articles on utopia and dystopia in a breadth of disciplines-history, literature, gender studies, political science, sociology, anthropology and Native American Studies.
Utopia and dystopia are modes and resonances present in all parts of the world, not just Europe and white North America. Equally, utopian and dystopian thought and practice are and have always been gendered. Utopia, memory and temporality often intersect in strange and surprising ways.
Three dimensions are thus central to the enterprise undertaken in this volume:
(1) The relationship between utopia/dystopia and time/memory.
(2) The focus on Europe and areas outside Europe at the same time.
(3) The gendered analysis of utopia/dystopia.
Contributors to this volume include prominent experts in fields as varied as Development Studies, Cultural Studies, Women's Studies and Literature.
More details
Person
Barnita Bagchi is Chair and Professor of World Literatures: English at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She is considered an international authority on utopian and dystopian literature, on women's writing in the post-1750 period, and on the cultural history of women's education, with South Asia and Western Europe as nodes.