Real Utopia as a Method? Utopian-Sociological Paths from Jameson’s Universal Army to a Postcapitalist Post Office

Abstract

This article uses Frederic Jameson’s An American Utopia: Dual Power and the Universal Army as the inspiration for a utopian-sociological method that brings together aspects of Erik Olin Wright’s ‘Real Utopias’ project and Ruth Levitas’ ‘Imaginary Reconstitution of Society’. It argues that these different approaches can be bridged through presenting fictional sketches of imagined futures of potentially socially transformative institutions alongside more conventional sociological analysis of such. Two concepts associated with the discipline of Utopian Studies – education of desire and concrete utopia – are used to suggest that the British Post Office might perform a better utopian role than Jameson’s chosen vehicle of utopian transformation: the US Army. To further build this case, and to demonstrate one possible application of this method, the history, current condition and an imagined future of the Post Office are explored and some concrete steps in the utopian directions suggested by these are noted.