THE POLITICAL-ECONOMY OF UTOPIA

Utopian ideals of communist, socialist, or even individualistic, free market societies have inspired humankind for centuries. Against the notions of ''the end of ideology'' or ''the end of history'' this article argues for the legitimacy of utopian discourse, but not by promoting a specific utopian plan. It is shown that even ''anti-utopians'' such as Marx and Hayek end up promoting a utopia of their own. Instead of rejecting utopianism, what is required is a meta-utopian discourse in which the idea of a perfect society is rejected but the potential and Limitations of different kinds of utopias can be measured. Key parameters are outlined via a critical consideration of the writings of Hayek, Malthus, Marx, and Veblen. The idea of evotopia is established to accommodate the elements of novelty and variety which are missing in much utopian thinking.