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Less of More
- Utopian Studies
- Penn State University Press
- Volume 27, Number 3, 2016
- pp. 395-401
- Article
- Additional Information
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This article argues that the focus on Thomas More’s Utopia in its quincentenary year overstates the importance of the text itself. More’s work still has some substantive relevance to the contemporary world, particularly in its attack on enclosure. The word “Utopia” that he gave us is more important, although that too delivers an ambiguous legacy. What is crucial, however, is the process of imagining the world otherwise—a process not invented by More, and possessed of a long and varied history. It is this process we need to engage with to address the consequences of climate change, conflict, and the increasing inequalities wreaked by global capitalism. Utopia does not matter very much. Utopia does.