Overview

This innovative book explores the role of utopian thinking in law and politics, including alternative forms of social engineering, such as technology and architecture. Building on Levitas’ Utopia as Method, the topic of utopia is addressed within the book from a multidisciplinary perspective. The book addresses central questions surrounding utopian thinking: What are its implications for law and politics? To what extent does it constitute a desirable vision? What are its risks or dangers? How is utopia related to ideology? An impressive selection of contributors reflect on the challenge of utopianism and its attraction, advancing the global public debate on social and political issues. Divided into three accessible parts, this book discusses the relationship between utopia and the law, the notion of utopian politics and utopia in architecture and technology. Addressing the topic of utopia from a variety of perspectives, this book will be an interesting read for academic scholars and students in the field of law, legal and political theory, philosophy, ethics, sociology, religious studies, technology and architecture. In particular, it is relevant for scholars who are interested in the dynamics of social, legal and political change.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bart van Klink ,  Marta Soniewicka ,  Leon van den Broeke
Publisher:   Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Imprint:   Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
ISBN:  

9781803921396

ISBN 10:   1803921390
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   23 September 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents: PART I UTOPIA AND THE LAW: SKETCHES FOR A NEW SOCIETY 1 Introduction: A return to utopia 2 Bart van Klink, Marta Soniewicka and Leon van den Broeke 2 Finding hope in hopeless times 19 Lynne Copson 3 The rule of law: Between ideology and utopia 38 Bart van Klink 4 Legislative hope and utopia 59 Carinne Elion-Valter 5 A secular form of grace: A place for utopia in law 76 Leon van den Broeke PART II UTOPIAN POLITICS: REDEMPTION OR A 'RECIPE FOR BLOODSHED'? 6 The politics of hope: Utopia as an exercise in social imagination 96 Marta Soniewicka 7 The utopian ideals of the political order of the European Union: Is a European republic possible? 116 Jan Willem Sap 8 'The coming community': Agamben's vision of messianic politics 134 Oliver W. Lembcke 9 The allure of utopia: Klaas Schilder's stress on the relevance of hic et nunc 150 George Harinck 10 The Islamic state 167 Maurits Berger PART III UTOPIA IN ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY: THE QUEST FOR PERFECTION 11 An ideal city vs 21st-century pragmatism 187 Ernestyna Szpakowska-Loranc 12 Planning utopia 207 Danielle Chevalier and Yannis Tzaninis 13 Technological utopias: Promises of the unlimited 226 Marc J. de Vries 14 A better way of being? Human rights, transhumanism and 'the utopian standpoint of man' 245 Britta van Beers 15 The posthuman: Around the vanishing point of utopia 266 Anna Bugajska 16 Being an agent in a robot and artificial intelligence age: Potentiality or dystopia? 284 Zeynep Ispir and Su kru Keles Index

Reviews

'Stimulating and provocative, this interesting collection tackles utopia from diverse disciplinary, theoretical, and political angles. Drawing on secular and religious traditions, contributors demonstrate utopian thinking's enduring vitality and significance. With hope, faith, humanity, and the imagination, at its centre, this book explores what utopia can and cannot mean, be, and do.' -- Davina Cooper, King's College London, UK

Author Information

Edited by Bart van Klink, Professor of Legal Methodology, Department of Legal Theory and Legal History, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Marta Soniewicka, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy of Law and Legal Ethics, Jagiellonian University, Poland and Leon van den Broeke, Extraordinary Professor of Theology of Law and Church Polity, Theologische Universiteit Kampen and Associate Professor of Religion, Law, and Society, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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