In these days the online project “Utopian Worlds” starts! On the website https://www.utopian-worlds.org and on Instagram under @utopian_worlds Silke Steets and Silke Guelker, two social scientists from Germany, collect and present ideas of a better world in photos and stories of people from all over the world. There are still only a few examples, but the site should grow quickly! The project is part of the 40th Congress of the German Sociological Association, which will take place in September in digital form.
The concept of utopia had no place in postmodern thinking for a long time. It is certainly no coincidence that it is being reconsidered in many different ways right now – in view of crises felt worldwide. The aim of the project is to reconstruct the ideas of “good” self-, world- and social relations contained in utopian world concepts – and thus to sound out the current potential of utopian thinking for social criticism.
The curators are counting on your support for this: the more diverse the contributions, the more meaningful the project can become. The site is currently available in French, German, English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, with further languages planned. I would be delighted if you would both participate in the collection yourself and invite your colleagues, family and friends – all information can be found at https://www.utopian-worlds.org.
A live digital presentation of the project will be given during the congress of the German Sociological Association on Tuesday, 15 September 2020 from 13.30 to 14.30. The complete programme of the congress can be found here: https://kongress2020.soziologie.de