Ruth Levitas

In this major new work by one of the leading writers on Utopian Studies, Ruth Levitas argues that a prospective future of ecological and economic crises poses a challenge to the utopian imaginary. To conceive a better world, and alternative future, Utopia as Method does not construe utopia as a goal or blueprint, but as a holistic, reflexive method for developing what those possible futures might be. It begins by treating utopia as the quest for grace, through a hermeneutics that recovers the utopian meaning in our culture, explored through colour and music. Moving from the existential to the social, it draws on H. G. Wells's claim that the creation of utopias is the distinctive and proper method of sociology, and on the tentative reappearance of utopia in contemporary social theory. It proposes a constructive method, the Imaginary Reconstitution of Society. This fusion of explicitly normative social theory and analytic critique rehabilitates utopia as an integral part of sociology, and offers a means of collective engagement in shaping a better tomorrow.

The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society

Utopia as Method

Probes the contested concept of utopia, examining the different ways in which it has been used by commentators and theorists in both liberal and Marxist radiations. The works of Karl Mannheim, Georges Sorel, Ernst Bloch, William Morris, and Herbert Marcuse are studied. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Concept of Utopia

Will Guy

Interpreting Official Statistics

Gordon, David

Pantazis, Christina

The Millennium Survey

Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain

The idea of social exclusion is part of the new political language. But what exactly does social inclusion mean? This revised and updated edition identifies three competing meanings of the term in contemporary British politics, emphasizing poverty, employment and morality. Ruth Levitas argues that there has been a shift away from understanding social exclusion as primarily a problem of poverty, towards questions of social integration through paid work and moral regulation.

Social Exclusion and New Labour

The Inclusive Society?

Ruth Levitas

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