Utopianism Series

Posted on Feb 10, 2016 in Publishing, Research | 0 comments

I'm delighted to have been invited onto the editorial board for the book series "Palgrave Studies in Utopianism." Utopianism is an interdisciplinary concept which explores both imagined ideal societies and practical attempts to create them, as interpreted through philosophy, sociology, literature, the history of ideas, art and architecture, religion, futurology and other fields. While the literary utopia is usually dated from Thomas More's Utopia (1516), communitarian movements and ideologies proposing utopian ends have existed in most societies through history. Typically they project the idyllic beginnings of humanity, like golden ages or paradises; potential futures akin to the millennium or heaven, but falling short of perfection; and ways of attaining similar states of stability, prosperity and virtue in this world. Utopianism, in the sense of striving for a much improved existence, is also present in many trends in contemporary popular movements, and in phenomena as diverse as films, video games, and environmental and bodily/medical projections. Increasingly utopia shares the limelight with dystopia, its negative inversion, perhaps indeed its offspring, and with projections of the degeneration of humanity and nature alike. This series will aim to publish the best new scholarship across these varied fields. It will focus on original studies of interest to a broad readership, including, but not limited to, historical and theoretical narratives as well as accounts of contemporary utopian thought, interpretation and action.

The Series Editor for "Palgrave Studies in Utopianism" is Professor Gregory Claeys (Royal Holloway, University of London). The Editorial Board includes:

Dr Antonis Balasopoulos (University of Cyprus) 
Dr Matthew Beaumont (UCL) 
Professor Artur Blaim (University of Gdansk) 
Dr Jacqueline Dutton (University of Melbourne) 
Dr Caroline Edwards (Birkbeck, University of London)
Professor Vita Fortunati (University of Bologna)
Professor Annette Giesecke ( University of Delaware) 
Dr Nicole Pohl (Oxford Brookes University) 
Dr Fatima Vieira (University of Porto)
Professor Phillip E. Wegner (University of Florida) 

Applications to publish a book in any of these areas are warmly invited, and should be submitted to: Gregory Claeys (Royal Holloway, University of London): g.claeys@rhul.ac.uk

Featured image by cea+ under a CC BY license.