The twenty-first century

This chapter juxtaposes two kinds of utopianism, both endemic to the current century: on one side, visions of another world than this one, committed to a total transformation of human relations with each other and with human-made machines; and on the other side, visions of this world lived otherwise than according to the rules of accumulation and violence. In a contemporary world under stress environmentally and threatened by a range of seemingly insurmountable conditions and problems, thinking positively is hard, but necessary. Examining among other things the call for active engagement by Toni Morrison, the promises and problems of Digital Utopias deriving from Silicon Valley, and the argument for a "chastened utopia," this chapter deals with both philosophical and creative responses to the pressing need to live in better ways.