Afterword: the utopian dreaming of modernity and its ecological cost

Abstract

If utopia has often been criticized as an unrealistic and unsustainable fantasy, then the most prominent example of this imaginary today must be the vision provided by the endless growth and profit model of global capital. This utopian dreaming of perpetual abundance links technological progress with faith in human culture’s ability to master the rest of nature. Fredric Jameson followed Ernst Bloch’s recognition of this deep yearning for a land of milk and honey and I likewise return to the Principle of Hope, this time to trace the way Bloch treats light as a mythic symbol of abundance. Citing the famous NASA photomontage of the planet at night, this article shows how modern urban life relies on the unsustainable combustion of fossil fuels in an effort to banish the night from earthly life. It also cites a selection of advertisements that directly link light with magical yet ubiquitous powers of overcoming, and which ignore or conceal the dire ecological consequences of this Promethean dreaming. The article concludes with reference to the comparatively realistic visions of critical ecotopias and ecodystopias that remind us of our collective hopes for a better future in terms both social and ecological.