Cities at the End of the World ― Using Utopian and Dystopian Stories to Reflect Critically on Our Political Beliefs, Communities, and Ways of Life

There is a lot of political upheaval around world today. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement and the U.S. presidential race, it seems that everywhere people are looking for new ways of solving problems. This book undertakes a critical examination of political problems through three utopian and three dystopian classic texts, chosen for the interplay of the themes, problems, and solutions they explore.

Selected stories from Morris, Orwell, More, Bellamy, Neville, and Zamyatin are used as a form of political philosophy to generate questions about fundamental economic, political, and social problems, human nature, and the notion of the good life. These text, spanning across 500 years, will not only familiarize readers with the politics and philosophy they present, but will also stimulate new ways of critical thinking and scholarly exploration. This unique work will be an exceptional resource for all students in political theory, political philosophy, utopian politics and literature.

David J. Lorenzo is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Diplomacy, National Chengchi University, Taiwan (ROC) and Batten Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Wesleyan College, US. He is the author of Tradition and the Rhetoric of Right (1999).