Demanding the impossible: Utopianism in Philosophy, Literature and Science Fiction.

This is a critical appraisal of utopianism in politics, literature and science fiction. It asks whether there is a place for utopianism in contemporary thought. It situates these utopianisms in relation to the wider comparative context of utopianism in theology, philosophy and art. Its special academic significance is in the combination of a wide range of disciplinary approaches with a dual focus on Australian and overseas materials. The outcome will be a deepened understanding of how better and worse futures have been imagined, both in Australia and overseas, and also of the extent to which real social changes have been the effect of previously imagined utopias or dystopias.