Archeologies of the Future and Varieties of Utopia by Fredric Jameson -- Article Summary

I: Varieties of the utopian

There is a difference between the utopian form and the utopian wish. The utopian form is a text that deals thematically with utopia and the utopian wish or impulse is apparent in daily life in attempts to make the world a better place, as in politics. This genre begins in 1517 with Thomas More's political text Utopia and continues in Science Fiction and the historical novel. Works in these new genres seem to not stand on their own but to be a response to other works and create a whole network of associations. Jameson points out that visions of utopia encompass all areas of life, from politics to the individual to medicine and entertainment. Sometimes these visions are manifestations of unconscious wishes, but sometimes visions of utopia are self-aware.

The impulse is covert while the form is systemic and overt. Both are apparent in politics for instance, as reforms can be gradual and implied or extreme and revolutionary. 

This distinction between impulse and program calls to mind platonic distinctions between authentic and inauthentic, real and illusion. To avoid this Jameson will regard the question of the utopian impulse vs. program in terms of space. The utopian program tends to be closed off from all around it and contained and total, whereas the utopian impulse is partial. The former is radical and the latter milder.
Part of the utopian practices is materialism. People seek to alter their bodies via augmentation or medication to reach a corporeal ideal of immortality or just amelioration. In politics, the utopian corporeal impulse can be found in both Left and Right.

Jameson argues that in Utopia, the two aspects of time, of historical time (collective time) and existential experience (individual time) converge. Many utopian ideologies and religions have necessitated the individual to relinquish individual personality. (I guess maybe this is just a function of utopias trying to make the best possible world for the individual but it's necessarily a communal structure).

II: The utopian enclave

The utopian impulse is "rooted in human nature", but the utopian practice is not. Historically there have not always been attempts to enact utopias. Enacting utopias necessitates ingenuity, creativity, simplification skills, and problem-solving skills. Dreaming up utopias is also more fun than facing reality. But it needs to be motivated by real deficiencies in the world around the utopian thinker and the thinker needs to be convinced of the efficacy of his utopia. Utopian thinking attributes all society's evils to one particular problem, and the utopia proposed simplifies the world and presents a grand solution to everything. In this ways, utopias are essentially based on the negative because they address problems in the world. This is why utopias should not be regarded as idyllic or pastoral.

The most influential elements in utopias include abolishing money and property, paid labor, marriage. Lots of utopian ideologies centered on a single problem and a single approach and seemed easily implementable. The thinker, then, has found a problem, convinced everyone that it was worth solving, and managed to put his plan in motion. This necessitates comprehending problems in society which is sometimes impossible because it's all too complex.

He proposes that the utopia is a possibility inherent in present social reality, that is, it is a potential of reality. Different utopias can emerge from political unrest.

 

Fredric Jameson