A wide-ranging reevaluation of utopian literature and philosophy, from Plato to Chang-Rae Lee Examining literary and philosophical writing about ideal societies from Greek antiquity to the present, Inventions of Nemesis offers a striking new take on utopia's fundamental project. Noting that utopian imagining has often been propelled by an angry conviction that society is badly arranged, Douglas Mao argues that utopia's essential aim has not been to secure happiness, order, or material goods, but rather to establish a ...
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A wide-ranging reevaluation of utopian literature and philosophy, from Plato to Chang-Rae Lee Examining literary and philosophical writing about ideal societies from Greek antiquity to the present, Inventions of Nemesis offers a striking new take on utopia's fundamental project. Noting that utopian imagining has often been propelled by an angry conviction that society is badly arranged, Douglas Mao argues that utopia's essential aim has not been to secure happiness, order, or material goods, but rather to establish a condition of justice in which all have what they ought to have. He also makes the case that hostility to utopias has frequently been associated with a fear that they will transform humanity beyond recognition, doing away with the very subjects who should receive justice in a transformed world. Further, he shows how utopian writing speaks to contemporary debates about immigration, labor, and other global justice issues. Along the way, Inventions of Nemesis connects utopia to the Greek concept of nemesis, or indignation at a wrong ordering of things, and advances fresh readings of dozens of writers and thinkers-from Plato, Thomas More, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edward Bellamy, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and H. G. Wells to John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Fredric Jameson, Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Chang-Rae Lee. Ambitious and timely, Inventions of Nemesis offers a vital reconsideration of what it really means to imagine an ideal society.
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Good Condition. Cover a bit worn and scuffed. A few pages have underlinings and light pencil marks in the margins. Overall, a good used copy. Publisher's note: "Examining utopian writings and other texts that focus on ideal societies, from Greek antiquity to the present, this book offers a fresh take on utopian thought. Mao begins with the observation that utopian ideas often are propelled by an angry conviction that society is badly arranged. In an introduction and three long chapters, he argues that utopia's most basic aim has not been to secure happiness, material welfare, or even order, but instead to establish justice, understood as a condition of right arrangement in which all receive what they ought to receive. Mao's analysis, grounded in literary studies, encompasses a broad range of literary and non-literary works, from canonical utopian writings (Plato's Republic, More's Utopia, Bellamy's Looking Backward) to a broad range of other works, including novels and philosophical writings, from Europe and the United States. It considers utopia in relation to the goal of justice, examining at length the question of utopian indignation, and situates utopian imagining in relation to human migration across national boundaries. In the author's view, a rethinking of key assumptions about utopian ideas is important at a time when public interest in utopia is high, and when questions about what an ideal society could mean "have never been more searching."--Provided by publisher Size: 15.6 x 23.4 x 2.2 cm. x, 284 pp. Shipped Weight: Under 500 grams. Category: Philosophy; LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Politics; Utopias; Utopias Political aspects; Utopias Social aspects; Utopies; Utopies Aspect politique; Utopies Aspect social; utopian literature; utopias; Additional Physical Form Entry: ; Print version: ; Inventions of nemesis; Mao, Douglas, 1966-; More Information: ; muse. jhu. edu; public. eblib. com; www. vlebooks. com; JSTOR; doi. org; www. degruyter. com; Cover; doi. org; Cover; Find a Copy at a Library; Filter by: ; any; any; 3 editions in 518 libraries; Showing 428 libraries near; Only public libraries; Library Type Other; Other; Oxford University Press; 3.2 miles from your current location.; Great Clarendon St, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; UCL; University College London; 51 miles from your current location.; Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Regional or National; Regional or National; The British Library, St. Pancras; 52 miles from your current location.; 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; London Metropolitan University; 52 miles from your current location.; Tower Building, 166-220 Holloway Road, London, N7 8DB, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; University of Southampton; 54 miles from your current location.; University Road, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; University of Bristol Library; 59 miles from your current location.; University of Bristol Library Services, Bristol, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; Bournemouth University; 72 miles from your current location.; Fern Barrow, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; University of Sussex; Sussex University; 78 miles from your current location.; The Library, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QL, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; University of Exeter Library; Forum Library; 118 miles from your current location.; Stocker Road, Exeter Devon, EX4 4PT, United Kingdom; Favorite Library; Library Type Academic; Academic; University of Wales Trinity Saint David; 122 miles from your current location.; The Library Lampter, Lampeter Campus, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED, United...
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 550grams, ISBN: 9780691199252.