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The sociology of utopia, modern temporality and black visions of liberation
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Davidson, Joe P. L. (2023) The sociology of utopia, modern temporality and black visions of liberation. Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association, 57 (4). pp. 827-842. doi:10.1177/00380385221117360 ISSN 0038-0385.
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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1177/00380385221117360
Abstract
This article focuses on the relationship between the sociology of utopia and Black visions of liberation. Influential figures from Karl Mannheim to Ruth Levitas have effectively demonstrated the value of a utopian perspective for sociology. However, the African American tradition of utopianism has been largely overlooked in this literature. I argue that the Black standpoint forces a rethinking of the sociological understanding of utopia. More specifically, while most sociologists of utopia straightforwardly associate the desire for a better world with the future, the Black tradition proposes a more expansive understanding of utopia’s temporality. Building on visions of new worlds advanced by WEB Du Bois and the movement for reparations for slavery, I suggest that Black utopia involves a glance backwards to the past, such that the image of a better future is accompanied by the memory of the catastrophe of slavery.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Utopias, Social sciences -- Philosophy, Utopias -- Social aspects, Racism in sociology, Postcolonialism | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0038-0385 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | August 2023 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 57 | ||||||||
| Number: | 4 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 827-842 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1177/00380385221117360 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 25 January 2023 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 25 January 2023 |
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