Utopia Now, Utopia Forever

This project interrogates the concept of utopia through the sociological lens of social transformation, as represented in both fictional and contemporary (that is, real-life, actually existing) contexts. In doing so, this project simultaneously challenges the assumption that sociology cannot speak to the speculated conditions and dynamics of future societies and explores the inherently sociological questions raised by utopian communities, both fictional and real. Two works of fiction—Ursula Le Guin's 1974 novel, The Dispossessed, and Ryan Coogler's 2018 film, Black Panther—are studied for their representation of and value to sociological theories and strategies of social transformation, while the actually existing utopia depicted in The Village Against the World implements these theories and strategies for its inhabitants and provide proof that utopia is both a means and an end to social transformation.