In addition to considering the role of social theory in the imagination of alternative futures, this volume reflects on how social theory may assist us in understanding and appreciating utopia or utopianism as a special topic of interest, a special subject matter, a special analytical focus or a special normative dimension of sociological thinking. Bringing together the latest work from a leading team of social theorists, this volume will be of interest to sociologists, social and political theorists, anthropologists and philosophers.

Contents: Introduction: utopia as a topic for social theory, Michael Hviid Jacobsen and Keith Tester; Part I Theoretical Musings: Utopia and the end of history, Henk de Berg; What is concrete about Ernst Bloch's 'concrete utopia'?, Peter Thompson; Dreams, visions and utopias - romantic and realist revolutionaries and the idyllic, Arpad Szakolczai; Liquid modern 'utopia' - Zygmunt Bauman on the transformation of utopia, Michael Hviid Jacobsen; Houellebecq's dystopia - a case of the elective affinity between sociology and literature, Anders Petersen and Michael Hviid Jacobsen. Part II Theories in Motion: Utopia and criminology, Peter Young; Utopianism, dystopianism and ecological thought, Kate Rigby; Social movement as utopian practice, Andrew Jamison; Virtual utopias and dystopias - the cultural imaginary of the internet, Majid Yar; Utopias of mobility, Ole B. Jensen and Malene Freudendal-Pedersen; Index.