Open utopia : a horizon for left unity

Abstract

Sectarianism is a consistent hallmark of the Left. In particular, many debates revolve around the question of how to make a successful revolution. This essay seeks to build a stronger, more united idea of the Left by engaging the concepts of revolution and utopia. I have categorised two prominent and seemingly dualistic perspectives within the Left, ones which are also revolutionary. I label these the “strategic” and “prefigurative” camps. Both camps have harboured conceptions of utopia which have served as roadmaps for their respective theories on revolutionary transition, and by charting these conceptual developments in utopian thinking I offer a different roadmap which leads to an open utopia. Open utopia offers the possibility of a methodological synthesis which can bridge the strategic and prefigurative pulses of the Left, where the hard analysis and focus on end goals emphasised by strategic proponents is woven together with the importance of process and alternative institutions (recognized as vital by prefigurative proponents). I name this methodology the radical imagination, and by employing this methodological frame onto Leftist social movement activity I conclude that we can bridge a fractious Left by embracing a revolutionary project aimed at an open utopia.