This subject considers the history of utopian and dystopian thought in fiction, political writings and social movements. It approaches utopian thinking as a form of political theory, in which ideals of the good life or the good society are set down as alternatives to what are perceived as the problems of the present. Dystopias are understood as a form of social and political critique in which the utopian ideal is reversed. The subject asks whether it is possible (or desirable) to construct a totalising model for political and social change. It also examines the historical function utopias have performed. It challenges students to think about their own political values and theories in terms of coherent, total schemes for social improvement.

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