by Danna Martínez
Have you ever heard of a world where everything is okay? In which there are no problems? A space in which everything seems and is “perfect”? This perfect scenario is called utopia, a dream, ideal society that sounds perfect in every way. Despite being something so longed for, it doesn’t really exist.
The term utopia comes from the Greek: “u” no; “Topos”: place; that is nowhere to be found; unrealizable. Some synonyms of this term can be:
- The unrealizable project, system, or idea
- Impossible
- Delusion
- Dream
- Fantasy
Thomas More coined the word in one of his works, around 1516, to describe an ideal society. The “Utopia” indicates a fantastic theory about the perfect state regime. Whose political, economic, and social aspects are balanced and allow the whole community to enjoy a peaceful life. It is an idea of a perfect society, where harmony and coexistence reign, a theory devoid of any factual basis.
The purpose of a utopian society is to promote the best possible quality of life characterized by benevolent governments that guarantee the security and general well-being of its citizens, empathic institutions, and without a trace of discrimination; basically, a place where citizens live safely, with dignity and without fear.
This utopian vision of a society that is so ideal is practically impossible to implement.
Although it is impossible to implement this perfect and ideal world, utopias have played a significant role in the history of political science as intellectual exercises carried out by thinkers to present a future program or project as an alternative to a present considered harmful (problems and injustices).
The “Utopian thinking” can be found in essays on philosophy, politics, sociology, economics, psychology, pedagogy, and so on.
Utopian fiction serves to designate two literary genres where social and political structures are explored. Besides, a utopian story consists of exposing a place where the laws that govern time and space respond to society’s ideal type.
Utopian communities originated during the 19th-20th century with attempts to create a small-scale community based on principles of collaboration, collective property, and a rational organization of work and social life. History Channel website shows us five of these communities located in the United States. To learn more, click here.
In its different forms of representation, utopia makes a critique of current reality, turning the past into nostalgia, aspiring to something much better, a proposal directed towards the future as an ideal society. The source of utopia is in the conscious longing for something impossible.
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