Concept Of Utopia Research Articles

From Science to Utopia: Marcuse and Critical Utopianism

The article examines the concept of utopia in its post-Marxist context. Since the 1970s—against the backdrop of the failures of May 68, the self-exposures of the USSR, and the decline of the workers’ movement, as well as in accordance with the immanent history of the logic of the history of philosophy itself—the concept of utopia has been running through new areas of meaning and is extremely dialectical in two modes: temporal and ontological. The first transforms utopia from never-being into “past”, the second provides two inversions, considering it as 1) a dystopia, the other of utopia, which is declared to be the hidden truth of utopia; and — when it is fundamentally possible according to its own concept — 2) as impossible, in connection with which utopia and its concept return to the discourse as a kind of empty place around which modern pessimism circles, correctly believing that the future is unimaginable. The time of ends, from the end of the grand narratives of disappointed radicals (Lyotard) to the end of politics (see Rancière’s analysis), is, however, picked up by Marcuse, who suggests considering utopia as ahistorical. The author introduces this strange ahistorical or even anti-historicalism as historical, relying on the conceptualized phenomenon of the desynchronization of the “base” (the development of productive forces to the degree necessary for social revolution) and the “superstructure”, which runs into a limit, since it cannot represent the restrained base, which has broken out of the formational “scientific” logic. When Marcuse writes that a utopia in the strict sense can now be called a project that violates the laws of nature, he means the “impossible” into which utopia turns after the catastrophes of the 20th century, betraying the truth of its concept contained in the simple possibility of another world. More than 50 years after “The End of Utopia” and almost 30 years after the ontological turn in philosophy, we can say that utopia is still unimaginable — in the strict sense is what violates the laws of logic. This thesis opens up the possibilities of a new dialectic and its alliance with transcendentalism, which the author considers as a critique of plastic reason in the spirit of Malabou, constructing time and time again the assumptions-concepts that it needs and which are “practically necessary” according to Kant.

Society and history, or money and blood. Economy in Norwid’s Vade-mecum

The subject of money occupies a prominent place in Vade-mecum, reflecting the significance of finance and economy in socio-political and philosophical theories of the nineteenth century. The question of “capital” emerges in many poems from the cycle, e.g. in “Socjalizm” [Socialism], “Larwa” [The Larva], “Stolica” [Capital City], “Prac-czoło” [The-Forehead-of- Labor]“Syberie” [Syberias], “(Co słychać?)” [How are you?] and “Nerwy” [Nerves]. Norwid’s opus magnumwas written in the period of intense changes in capitalist economy, notably in the wake of the global crisis following the American Civil War (1866), whose consequences are discussed by Marx in the first volume of Capital (1867). The famous publication by the German economist constitutes an important context for Norwid’s cycle, although the two are worlds apart in ideological terms. The poet was nevertheless greatly inspired by Proudhon’s works, which he read in the 1840s alongside other utopian socialists (possibly Owen), who would propose abandoning money in its traditional form as an antidote to economic crises and mass poverty. Additionally, Norwid’s letter dated 15 July 1867 (PW IX, 297) contains a trace of the poet’s reading of August Cieszkowski’s treatise Du Crédit, et de la Circulation (Paris 1839) and proof of contacts with the economist Ludwik Wołowski, co-founder and director of the Parisian bank Crédit Foncier de France (established in 1852). The above two men introduced some of the brilliant credit ideas developed by Prince Drucki-Lubecki to the France of Napoleon III . In Vade-mecum Norwid polemicizes both with utopian concepts of a socialist, moneyless economy and with Polish organicist ideas basing on profit economy and visions of economic success. Norwid recognized their departure from the Decalogue, the category of “conscience,” and Christian soteriology. In this sense, Vade-mecum becomes a Romantic and Christian attempt to return the question of money to its original context: that of ideals and spiritual life.

Utopías comunitarias como apuestas del futuro entre los purhépecha

This article shows how organizations and projects in contemporary Indigenous communities are structured around imaginaries of a desirable future. Here the idea of utopia suggests potential, enabling an understanding of the effects of reaffirming ethnic belonging within the community. The concept of utopia as a guide to the future is discussed with regard to its limits, reach, and explanatory power as a category. The empirical subject matter is forty years of experience of a Purépecha community that has been fighting for recognition.

Mannerist Literary Concert in 88 Fragments: Over the Book by Nadija Rebronja 88

The paper deals with Nadija Rebronja’s book 88, which is conceived as 88 piano keys or fragments. The paper recognizes some important links that this book establishes with the mannerist literary tradition, as understood and explained by Gustav René Hocke in his widely acknowledged books Mannerism in Literature and The World as a Labyrinth. Instead of opening up to the totality of all things, 88 resembles a mannerist work that closes itself into its own artistic reality and questions the place that literature and art occupy in today’s world. The paper also deals with the implications that arise from the connection Nadija Rebronja establishes with the tradition of magic(al)realism, particularly regarding the construction of motivational systems and their relation to the phenomenon of magic in this book. By utilising the concepts of simultaneity and catalogue, 88 relates to the tradition of the Russian avant-garde, as understood by Aleksandar Flaker. It is also shown that a reassessment, a significant avant-garde procedure, holds an important place in the 88, since the author re-evaluates the figure of travel and a topos of the town square in relation to classical literature. This reassessment is linked to the tradition of hikaye, instructive stories that have come from the Islamic tradition, as well as a farce - a literary form based on reversal. The final part of this paper deals with the fragmentation in Nadia Rebronja’s88 which can be linked to the atomization within the mannerist literature and the avant-garde understanding of the world. It also explores the ways in which the world created in this book relates to,on the one hand,the “optimal projection” as one of the characteristics of the avant-garde, and the concept of utopia as an alternative to freethinking on the other.

Recoding Utopian Fellowship in 20th Century Bengal: An Interpretation from the perspective of Socio-Economic Study

The concept of Utopia, originally proposed by Thomas More in 1516, describes an ideal, perfect society. In the 20th century, this idea has been applied to Bengal's social economy, including cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations, social enterprises, and paritarian institutions that share common values. Despite political turmoil affecting Bengal since the late 1980s, exploring the Utopian notion can help analyze and develop specific branches of Bengal's socio-economy. This approach may provide a foundation for future progress, potentially establishing a successful social economy in Bengal that, while not perfect, aligns with Utopian principles. Can these sectors effectively embody Utopian ideals in shaping Bengal's socio-economic landscape?

Heritagutopia: a new utopian paradigm

The progress of humanity has always, and sometimes even unconsciously, been confronted with the concept of utopia at the social, economic, political, and urban level. The strength of every utopian vision lies in the disruptive factor inherent in the idea of metamorphosis of the status quo. In the urban context, it represents the pillar on which the vision of modern society and its city are based and understood as potential and progress for mankind. Authors such as Bauman, Bloch, Calvino, More, Mumford, Tafuri, and others, have formed the theoretical framework of the dialectic on which this study is based. As we know, the history of architecture and urban planning provides multiple models of utopia that have alternated over time, such as the ones proposed in the 60 and 70 s by Archigram, Superstudio, Yona Friedman or the Japanese Metabolist movement, just to name a few. Starting from these experiences at the urban scale, and supported by contributions from disciplines such as philosophy, literature, and sociology, this research defines a new model of utopia called “Heritagutopia”. It is a new utopian paradigm, and not dystopian as it will be demonstrated, which is based on the symbiosis between urban historical heritage and abandoned industrial areas or run-down infrastructures. The first one, due to the centripetal economic dynamics, leaves its current location to find exile in the second one, through parasitic urban tactics. It is a migration, or an exile in some ways. However, in both cases this new condition allows the two contexts not to vanish and to regain possession of their lost identity, or rather to regenerate themselves, acquiring a new life. It allows to break into custom with a vision that undermines the state of affairs, subverts its factors, by proposing an alternative vision, sometimes dreamlike, but deliberately provocative as every utopia wants to be.

Placing the North American Post-war Pedestrian Mall Within the Legacy of Downtown Urban Renewal

This paper investigates how the pedestrian mall concept evolved and was broadly replicated in the post-war period in North America, specifically positioning downtown pedestrian malls as a case study of urban renewal ideas and practices. This research describes how ideas of pedestrianization evolved from a modernist utopian concept, to a more constrained pragmatic approach that was widely implemented. Furthermore, this research links the proliferation of pedestrian malls to federal urban renewal funding in the US. Like many mid-century urban renewal projects however, only a few pedestrian malls remain intact today.

Utopia Turns into Dystopia: Orwell’s Critic of Stalinist Marxist Innovativeness in Animal Farm

This paper aims to examine modernity in Marxism as an allegory of the animals' revolution in George Orwell's Animal Farm. The major concern of this paper is to explore the modernity and its impact of utopian Marxist conception of state considering essential characteristics of political movements and the possible relationship existed between them. One is immediately puzzled by the fact that modernist literature, art, and political theory seem to have little or nothing to do with Marxism, and are, in fact, reactionary to Marxism. Modernity in Marxism is change in the life of the people belonging to lower class or proletariats. The research tool used for research is Marxism and modernity, with reference to Robert Bocock, Abram L. Harris, and Henri Lefebvre. The research methodology used for analysis is textual analysis. The major finding is the concept of Utopia where there is everybody happy and prosperous; that is the main idea of this concept from Marxism. This notion of modernism comes into existence from different political movements in global context. The historically changing process is the base for the modernity in the society that shows the abuse of power practised by Stalin in Russia in the name of Marxism.

(Dis)utopian Landscapes in Don DeLillo’s Fiction

The concepts of utopia (a good place) and dystopia (a bad place) might be arrived at and developed by one’s contact with the (constructed) reality and comprehension, yet frustration and discontent with it, and one’s pessimism and optimism over a better present and future contingent upon the place and time in which one exists. The former has a long history, whereas the latter is a work in progress. That is, one cannot simply distinguish between the two by asking whether the latter is primarily precautionary and reactive, cautioning us what not to do, whilst the former is proactive, pointing us towards the right direction. Both the former and latter may have similar motives, namely, to demonstrate the dark characteristics of one society by comparing it with another, fictitious culture. Someone’s utopia might alternate dystopia, or many traditional utopias from the past include aspects that modern readers would identify as dystopian. On the other hand, one could argue that dystopia serves as the worst-case scenario, presenting a degraded, collapsing, and/or collapsed society, be it socio-culturally, economically, or technologically, worse than another, yet still hopeful for a drastic change for the better. Utopia could be received as the best-case scenario for people in a society considering its socio-political demise. Shortly, both utopian and dystopian scenarios would fit into an extended framework of contemplations on a catastrophe that would either signal a tremendous shift for the better or result in an apocalyptic nightmare. Drawing on the standpoints of Giles Deleuze and Jean Baudrillard and tracing Don DeLillo’s fiction, this paper seeks to explore the notion of dystopia, the future assumptions that dystopian fiction puts forward, and the challenges and issues it highlights, such as digital surveillance, technological control, the disappearance of individualism, uncertainty, and dread.

Философские константы в творческом самоопределении песенных поэтов

The article compares the views of foreign philosophers on the nature of creativity, their reception in the Russian literary criticism and the creative implementation of some points in the Russian songwriting. The works of W. Benjamin (1892–1940) The Task of the Translator (1923), M. Blanchot (1907–2003) The Space of Literature (1955), P. Valery (1871–1945) Poetry and Abstract Thought (19390, S. Mallarme (1842–1898) The Crisis of Verse (1896), M. Heidegger (1889–1976) Hölderlin and the Essence of Poetry (1936), K. G. Jung (1875–1961) Archetype and Symbol (1934–1961) are used as a theoretical basis. Song texts of the representatives of the author’s song tradition A. Galich, A. Bashlachev, whose work is usually attributed to bard rock, and E. Letov, one of the main representatives of Russian punk rock, are used as research material. The choice of the authors is determined by the concept of the work, which seeks to show the universality of the constants identified in the process of research for various song and poetic traditions and philosophical systems. As such constants, the utopian concepts of “a single discourse”, a single “conversation” of poetry, and “pure art”, which is a “goal-in-itself”, stand out. Other constants relate to the inner state of the poet, techniques aimed at achieving inspiration – we are talking about the concepts of “removal”, or, according to Shklovsky, “estrangement”, as well as “silence”. The central constant is the concept of the “inexpressible”, “elusive”, which is the essential goal of every poet, clearly seen, but always unattainable. In thinking about each of the constants of philosophical thoughts about creativity, we find confirmation or discrepancies in the creative practice of song poets. It leads us to the conclusion that song poetry, following traditional poetry, accepts and transmits the experience of the Russian and Western philosophical and poetic thoughts about the essence of creativity. Typological overlaps are of a supranational, cosmopolitan nature, which indicates the universality of the constants we have identified. The work contributes to the study of song poetry, which confirms its status as the next stage in the existence of poetic discourse, which proves the legitimacy and necessity of studying song texts from a philological standpoint.

ВІЗІЯ ІДЕАЛЬНОГО СВІТУ: КОНЦЕПЦІЯ «BROADACRE CITY» ФРЕНКА ЛЛОЙДА РАЙТА

In the first half of the 20th century, architects and urban planners actively sought alternative models of urban life, sought to rethink the anthropogenic environment. American architect F. Lloyd Wright proposed the «Broadacre City» concept, which was described in his book «The Disappearing City». This concept is a reflection of the author's utopian vision of improving the social system, ensuring the equality of citizens and moving away from overpopulated cities. The aim of this article is: to determine the main characteristics of F. Lloyd Wright's utopian concept «Broadacre city»; to highlight the architectural features of various types of buildings and structures; to compare his work with the works of utopians who could have an influence on the concept. F. Lloyd Wright proposes to give each citizen of the country a plot of 1 acre for housing and farming, and the rest of the territory to be evenly distributed among public buildings and structures, namely: airfields, power plants, hotels, offices, farms, factories, hospitals, public centers, schools and universities, shopping and entertainment centers and gas stations. The article highlighted the leading signs that demonstrate the utopian nature of the concept, namely: the presence of features of transcendentalism, egalitarianism, economic self-sufficiency of the proposed urban formations, decentralization and adaptability and flexibility of urban planning solutions. F. Lloyd Wright's work is compared with the works of utopians who could influence the concept of «Broadacre city»: R. Owen, S. Fourier, E. Cabet, E. Bellamy, W. Morris, E. Howard. This demonstrates that nominally this concept has all the features of a utopia, except for those that are not considered characteristic of architectural and urban development, namely: there is no clearly defined political ideology, no prediction of the behavioral habits of the inhabitants, and no carefully developed economic system.

Discourses about Miracle: Spectrum of Positions

The study is devoted to construct a typology of discourses about a miracle. Discourses are interpreted in this case not in a linguistic, but in a philosophical sense, as a certain “way of talking” about a chosen phenomenon. This includes the ontological and ideological position of the speaker (writer), emotional and value pathos, a communicative attitude or lack thereof, a message to the listener (reader) of specific views and beliefs. The author distinguishes three groups of discourses on the ideological basis: 1) a miracle, understood as supernatural, but accessible for communication; 2) a miracle understood as a man-made, purely human phenomenon; 3) a miracle as the result of a “dual determination” coming from both the transcendent and the person himself. The miracle is initially interpreted in the article as a positive phenomenon that can be described and expressed in speech without directly naming the word itself. Within the first group of discourses, the following are considered: religious (Christian), mythological and fairy-tale discourse, and the fate-providentialist discourse is also highlighted. The second approach, connected with the denial of the supernatural, speaks of a miracle in the context of its scientific and technical creation, as well as hopes for a miracle within the framework of progressive and utopian concepts. The third type of discourses, combining the view of a miracle as coming from above and from the person himself, includes mystical-magical, existential and creativistic discourses - interpreting the theme of creativity. The mystical-magical discourse describes a miracle as the result of illumination and as a consequence of persistent spiritual searches. In the existential discourse, represented by fiction, there is also a place for describing a miracle as a magical nature and a magical fate. In creative discourse, the miracle is the very act of the birth of a new one. Summing up what has been said, the author emphasizes that he presents readers with nothing more than a sketch that requires further work and thematic disclosure.

The Boundaries of Legal Personhood: Disability, Gender and the Cyborg

By considering the death of the disability activist Engracia Figueroa as the consequence of her wheelchair being damaged by an airline, this article asks whether law could accommodate a definition of legal personhood that encompasses the possibility of bodies augmented by prosthetics, technology, and mobility aids. The use of mobility aids by disabled people and the role of prosthetic penises in so-called ‘gender fraud’ cases offer two useful provocations to consider the ways in which legal personhood, if defined as largely mapping on to an ideal, normative body, is becoming an increasingly inadequate legal concept in the modern age. Drawing on the work of Donna Haraway and the figure of the cyborg, this article argues that a more protean, flexible, and fluctuating understanding of legal personhood would offer both a more accurate and utopian conception of the body in law than the current essentialist approach found in a number of legal areas and particularly in English criminal law.

15Theatre and Performance

Abstract It’s a cliché, of course, to open an annual review by pointing out how the texts under discussion reflect our contemporary moment. And none of the books reviewed here are modish responses to passing scholarly fads. All speak first and foremost to concerns located at the very heart of the theatre medium itself: the imaginative construction of alternative shared worlds, and the exploration of our hopes and fears around modes of interpersonal touch and intimacy. So, forgive me just one brief reflection on how it is surely no coincidence that the books that intervene most excitingly and meaningfully in the scholarly field this year are also those that speak to some of the most pressing anxieties and desires in the broader world as well, in the wake of pandemic contagion, the #MeToo movement, a cost-of-living crisis, and continued dystopic crises in both the academic industry and in national and global politics. The first section of this chapter, ‘Utopia’, reviews three monographs that discuss the intersections between theatre, concepts of utopia and utopian thinking: Siân Adiseshiah’s Utopian Drama: In Search of a Genre, Selina’s Busby’s Applied Theatre: A Pedagogy of Utopia and Ryan Claycomb’s In the Lurch: Verbatim Theater and the Crisis of Democratic Deliberation. The second section, ‘Touch and Intimacy’, reviews two books that cast an eye on questions of touch and intimacy onstage, from a contemporary practice-based and historical scholarly perspective respectively: Supporting Staged Intimacy: A Practical Guide for Theatre Creatives, Managers, and Crew, co-authored by Alexis Black and Tina M. Newhauser, and Alex MacConochie’s Staging Touch in Shakespeare’s England.

Mackinder's “heartland” – legitimation of US foreign policy in World War II and the Cold War of the 1950s

Abstract. The British geographer Halford J. Mackinder developed two different concepts of a dystopian new global order. The first, developed in 1904 and known as the pivot area concept, was adopted by German geopolitician Karl Haushofer in the 1920s. The second, developed in 1919, was named the heartland theory and was adopted in Great Britain and the USA. Haushofer reversed the dystopian vision of the pivot area concept into a utopian concept for German world power. Due to Haushofer's adaptation, interest in Mackinder's theories rose in the USA in the 1940s. Within the process of adaptation in the USA, both concepts were intertwined, resulting in the perception of the two as a monolithic bloc. Through this multi-layered process of intercontinental reception and adaptation in Germany and the USA, the term “heartland” became a generic spatial denomination detached from the geographical region it originally prescribed, integrable with various geopolitical concepts as the centre of an imagined world order. The reduction of complexity of the theory through the translation of text into maps led to its popularization among the US public during the 1940s and 1950s. Mackinder himself laid out the flexibility of the theory's interpretive possibilities by reflexively revising the theory and adapting it to the history of events over the course of the first half of the 20th century itself. In consequence, the generic spatial denomination “heartland” and the associated adopted theory served as a geopolitical argument for the strategic narrative legitimizing US foreign policy in World War II and during the Cold War.

Two Concepts of Artificial Intelligence: Realistic and Utopian

The article analyzes modern concepts of artificial intelligence. The author suggests distinguishing between two main ones: utopian and realistic; in the first, it is argued that it is possible to create machines that think like a person and even better than him, in the second, intelligence is presented as a kind of psychobiological computer. An excursion into the history of the development of artificial intelligence is made, within the framework of which three approaches are considered that have had a serious impact on the development of this phenomenon: the reducinalist approach, psychological and computer. Artificial intelligence is compared with natural intelligence, the latter is considered as a complex semiotic, cultural and social education, involving human communication, development, filiation of ideas and techniques. The conclusion is made and justified, according to which the utopian concept of artificial intelligence cannot be implemented, although efforts to implement it will continue for a long time. One of the arguments here are contradictions in the ethical interpretation of artificial intelligence, which is discussed in the form of a virtual dialogue between the author and the designer of modern robots. On the contrary, the realistic concept is implemented in the form of a permanent project. There are practically no anthropological claims in this concept, and the concept of intelligence is reduced here, i.e. intelligence means imitation of only those established intellectual processes that can be modeled and algorithmized, which is a necessary condition for programming.

Psychoanalytic Deconstruction of Dystopian Personae: A Comprehensive Study of Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and The Handmaid’s Tale

“I think dystopian futures are also a reflection of current fears.” – Lauren Oliver The more we progress towards a better dawn, the more we find ourselves involved in a dystopian societal bond. Far removed from Thomas Moore and his concept of utopia, we have drowned deep into the abyss of never ending chaos, the chaos of erroneous distortions that mess up with the wits and generate robots. All dystopian fictions deal with the same concept, but each become more menacing than the former. This feature that emerged as a by product of post-colonialism, has stormed the world in general and the literary sphere in particular, striking alarming thoughts. “But within every dystopia there’s a little utopia.” – Margaret Atwood. We, readers, have to understand these minacious nightmares that have been penned down since the last century. This paper attempts to deconstruct the four pillars of dystopian narrative: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, 1984 by George Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The deconstructive analysis, done through psychoanalytic criticism, would be based on both the Freudian and Jungian principles. The novels selected are dystopian in nature, keeping in mind the postcolonial society and the crisis that it has been facing since the advent of the world wars. Some of the major analytical theories have been taken up together by this paper: deconstruction to point at the horror from the closest point of examination and psychoanalysis that will help with a better understanding into the psyche of the protagonists. This paper aims at giving a better insight into the postmodern dystopian society as a whole, seeking to provide a solution rather than posing a problem. “The beauty of dystopia is that it lets us vicariously experience future worlds – but we still have the power to change our own.” – Ally Condie This is exactly what this paper aims to present: an understanding of the future agitations, so that postcolonial dystopia remains a vague abstraction, never concretised!

PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SCIENCE: EDUCOLOGICAL ASPECTS

The article is devoted to the analysis of futurological research as a scientific method of forecasting the future development of society in general and the educational sphere in particular. The author provides a general description of futurology, reveals the specifics of future research and singles out the methods and technologies used by futurology. The fact is emphasized that unlike astrology or utopian concepts, futurology relies in its forecasts on a set of methods borrowed from other scientific fields. The article emphasizes the importance of analyzing past and present events, developing alternative options for the future development of society in general and education in particular. The author emphasizes the interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity of futurological research and draws a parallel between futurology and educology as scientific directions that aim to predict future social development, determine its trends and specifics. The author pays special attention to the characteristics of the complex of research methods of futurology, as borrowed from the natural sciences, in particular mathematics, physics, cybernetics, etc. The article highlights the trends and directions of education development, which will be the main guidelines for the quality of education in the future. Futurology is a branch of social knowledge that deals with the analysis and development of concepts of the future by extrapolation of existing technological, economic or social trends, as well as substantiating the forecast of the development of future trends. Extrapolation is just one of the methods used by futurists when studying the future. When developing futurology, scientists aimed to create a new science, a kind of «philosophy of the future», which would focus on scientific and theoretical exploration and oppose utopian concepts. Today, futurology is considered as a science that is free from any ideological and socio-utopian doctrines, as a branch of social science, the task of which is to develop concepts of the future of humanity, prospects for the development of social processes. The main problems that modern futurology is interested in: 1) definition and evaluation of future development trends, in particular in the educational sphere. To do this, first, some current development trends are singled out and an attempt is made to characterize them in a certain way, to determine their possible influence on each other, and to describe their possible interaction under various scenarios; 2) identification of regularities among a variety of specific single determinants; 3) coverage of the analysis of the entire system (for example, the educational sphere), based on the identified trends and components of development; 4) forecasting the development of the system in the short-term and long-term perspective, including its development during the century under various possible circumstances; 5) using a combination of instincts and logic during research, and not just rational thinking.

SOLARPUNK CONTRA CAPITALIST REALISM

Mark Fisher expanded on the concept of capitalist realism as a socioeconomic order which stifles the imagination so deeply that we cannot imagine any alternative to it. To combat capitalist realism, Fisher believed we need an effective critique. If capitalist realism is an ideology, then an effective critique may come from a counterideology. I believe the speculative fiction and art movement known as solarpunk is the utopian premise we need to construct this counter-ideology. This essay will begin to construct a philosophy of solarpunk by primarily thinking of solarpunk as an ideology and showing its many advantages to past utopian conceptions of the future. Following Marx & Engels’ treatment of ideology, Gramsci’s cultural hegemony will also be considered in relation to Fisher’s capitalist realism. Given the concurrent existential crises of climate collapse, economic inequality, depression, and alienation – all of which are exacerbated by the capitalist model – something beyond ‘an effective critique’ is necessary to overcome these challenges. This essay hopes to better understand whether or not solarpunk can meet this challenge to provide a vision of a better future beyond capitalism.

АМЕРИКАНСКАЯ МЕЧТА: ПОТРЕБЛЕНИЕ И ЗАВИСИМОСТЬ В РОМАНАХ Х. СЕЛБИ-МЛ.

The author studies the plot particulars of four early novels by H. Selby, Jr. (1928–2004) in relation to the “American Dream” concept. The writer consistently splits the two-part utopian concept, reducing it to its pragmatic ordinary component od American dream as a longing for social success and prosperity. “Requiem for a Dream”, “Last Exit to Brooklyn”, “The Demon” and “The Room” discuss compulsive consumption as the main aspect of the American dream linked to painful addictions, familiar to the author from his personal experience, and referring to the state of existential crisis. The study consistently analyzes different types of consumption represented in the novels and reveals typical features of their actualization. The American Dream, reduced by Selby Jr. to its material aspect, cannot become the basis for identity formation and in this meaning it is stated as a false ideal. Selby Jr.’s characters commit crimes for the next dose of addictive substances and new experience; eventually they find themselves in the social underworld. Selby sees their problem in the lack of responsibility to others and to themselves. Their self-waste is due to lack of goals and attention to the “inner voice” corresponding to the transcendentalist doctrine of “self-reliance”. As a result, Selby Jr.’s characters find themselves disoriented and die.