In this work, David Harvey seeks to breathe new life into the idea and the practicability of utopia. He unites the discourses of the body and globalization to explain how and why the notion that "there is no alternative" to inequality and injustice now dominates contemporary politics and ideology. He examines why five centuries of utopian schemes to create a more just world were discredited or failed, or both, and considers what might be rescued from utopian ideas, and whether this could be translated into an achievable politics of justice and equality. He argues that any such politics must be consistent with the dynamics of social change, human nature, and the continued existence of the nature itself. The work concludes with a vision of a utopian society during the beginning of the next millennium.
In this work, David Harvey seeks to breathe new life into the idea and the practicability of utopia. He unites the discourses of the body and globalization to explain how and why the notion that "there is no alternative" to inequality and injustice now dominates contemporary politics and ideology. He examines why five centuries of utopian schemes to create a more just world were discredited or failed, or both, and considers what might be rescued from utopian ideas, and whether this could be translated into an achievable politics of justice and equality. He argues that any such politics must be consistent with the dynamics of social change, human nature, and the continued existence of the nature itself. The work concludes with a vision of a utopian society during the beginning of the next millennium.
David Harvey is Professor of Geography at the Johns Hopkins University and adjunct Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. He was previously Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. His books include Social Justice and the City (1973); The Limits to Capital (1982); The Urban Experience (1988); The Condition of Postmodernity (1989); and Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference (1996). He received the Outstanding Contributor award from the Association of American Geographers in 1980; the Anders Retzius Gold Medal from the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography in 1989; the Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society and the Vautrin Lud Prize in France in 1995.
An inspiring, well written and beautifully illustrated book, and one that I hope will help to change the trajectory of social existence as well as academic inquiry. -- Diane Perrons It is refreshing to read a book that not only represents a major scholarly achievement, but that also breathes enthusiasm, commitment, displays a clearly situated positionality, and is energised by the belief that a better world is there to be fought for and made. Students of the urban condition should be grateful to David Harvey for his rigorous and challenging scholarship and for the creativity of his imaginative vision. There is much to praise. One thing I love is the way it is written. Harvey's prose is so clear and precise ... I was reminded of how consistently Harvey has insisted on the centrality of the geographical to both the critique of this world and the possibility of the next. We could not wish for a more compelling ambassador. This is a very intriguing book. It bristles with ideas and the scope of Harvey's interests seem to be ever growing ! his analyses are rich with insight. An inspiring, well written and beautifully illustrated book, and one that I hope will help to change the trajectory of social existence as well as academic inquiry. It is refreshing to read a book that not only represents a major scholarly achievement, but that also breathes enthusiasm, commitment, displays a clearly situated positionality, and is energised by the belief that a better world is there to be fought for and made. Students of the urban condition should be grateful to David Harvey for his rigorous and challenging scholarship and for the creativity of his imaginative vision. There is much to praise. One thing I love is the way it is written. Harvey's prose is so clear and precise ... I was reminded of how consistently Harvey has insisted on the centrality of the geographical to both the critique of this world and the possibility of the next. We could not wish for a more compelling ambassador. This is a very intriguing book. It bristles with ideas and the scope of Harvey's interests seem to be ever growing ! his analyses are rich with insight.
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