Futuros e utopias da Modernidade

Memórias da alma e do corpo. A Misericórdia de Setúbal na modernidade

industry. William had always shown the greatest interest in the technical side of the business and was the originator of the first fire-proof construction in England. He now had the opportunity of planning hospital accommodation for eighty patients besides those with infectious diseases. In the Infirmary he introduced day-rooms for convalescents, a number of wards with only two or three beds, a...

Envisioning Real Utopias

A BOOK on utopias by a Marxist sociologist seems promising, perhaps even courageous. In Envisioning Real Utopias, Erik Olin Wright seeks to counter widespread cynicism about radical social transformation. To do this he offers what he calls “real utopias,” which might appear a contradiction or oxymoron. For Wright, however, utopias are not fantasies, or not only fantasies. In the current period ...

Scientific Utopias

Guidelines for Envisioning Real Utopias

This essay explores five general guidelines for discussions of democratic egalitarian alternatives to existing institutions in contemporary capitalist societies: (1) Evaluate alternatives in terms of three criteria: desirability, viability, achievability. (2) Do not let the problem of achievability dictate the discussion of viability. (3) Clarify the problem of winners and losers in structural ...

Transforming Capitalism through Real Utopias

This address explores a broad framework for thinking sociologically about emancipatory alternatives to dominant institutions and social structures, especially capitalism. The framework is grounded in two foundational propositions: (1) Many forms of human suffering and many deficits in human flourishing are the result of existing institutions and social structures. (2) Transforming existing inst...