The Task of Utopia: A Pragmatist and Feminist PerspectiveAt their best, both American pragmatism and utopianism are about hope. Both encourage people to think about the future as a guide to understanding the past and forming the present. Just as pragmatism has often been misunderstood as valueless instrumentalism, utopianism has been limited to dreams of a static perfect world. In this book, Erin McKenna argues that utopian vision informed by pragmatism results in a process model of utopia that can help form the future based on critical intelligence. Using John Dewey's works with feminist theory and literature, McKenna develops this pragmatist feminist model of utopia. |
Contents
Introduction The Problem of the Future | 1 |
Why Pragmatism Feminism and Utopia? | 3 |
An Overview | 9 |
The EndState Model of Utopia | 17 |
Static Imagination | 18 |
The Desirability of Perfection | 21 |
The Possibility of Perfection | 26 |
Utopian Education | 29 |
A Useful Utopian Vision? | 79 |
Deweys Democracy A Process Model of Utopia | 83 |
Intelligent Imagination | 84 |
The Possibilities of Imagined Ends | 88 |
Realizing the Possible | 90 |
Dewey Rejects EndState and Anarchist Visions | 92 |
Judging Future Possibilities | 97 |
Education and Experimentation | 101 |
Perfection as Process | 34 |
The EndState Vision of Womens Country | 36 |
Womens Country | 37 |
Problems of the Vision | 40 |
A Useful Utopian Vision? | 44 |
The Anarchist Model of Utopia | 49 |
Anarchist Imagination | 50 |
The Cost of Freedom | 53 |
The Possibility of Freedom and Its Maintenance | 58 |
Anarchist Education | 63 |
Freedom as the Precondition of Progress | 65 |
The Anarchist Vision of Mattapoisett | 68 |
Mattapoisett | 70 |
Problems of the Vision | 74 |
The Need to Dream the Possible | 105 |
Deweys Community | 107 |
A Picture of Community | 113 |
The Possibility of Community | 118 |
Feminism Pragmatism Community and Utopia | 129 |
A Feminist Critique of Deweys Call for Community | 131 |
Feminist Utopias | 135 |
The Kesh | 141 |
The Hill Women | 147 |
The Valley and the WandergroundGood EndsinView | 153 |
The Future of Utopia | 161 |
169 | |
175 | |
About the Author | |
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Common terms and phrases
achieve activity anarchist model anarchist utopian anarchist visions anarchy Ann Boydston Carbondale become believe choice citizens classical liberal connectedness critical and flexible critical intelligence critique democracy desirable develop Dewey's direct discussed diversity encourage end-state model end-state utopian visions end-state visions ends-in-view experimentation Feminism feminist utopian flexible habits freedom future Gate to Women's Gearhart goal Guin habits of mind Hill Women human nature ideal Illinois University Press imagination individual interests Jo Ann Boydston John Dewey Kesh limits lived experience Marge Piercy Mattapoisett means model of utopia necessary notion participation Paul Berman perfect perspective Piercy political possible pragmatist and feminist present problems process model promote realize recognize requires responsible revolution Rousseau Sally Miller Gearhart seek sense social society Southern Illinois University Tepper theory tion transvaluation transvaluation of values ture understanding Ursula K utopian fiction violence Wanderground Woman Women's Country