Saturday, November 5, 2016

Marcuse – an Apology for Utopia


“The dynamic of their productivity deprives ‘utopia’ of its traditional unreal content: what is denounced as ‘utopian’ is no longer that which has ‘no place’ and cannot have any place in the historical universe, but rather that which is blocked from coming about by the power of the established societies. Utopian possibilities are inherent in the technical and technological forces of advanced capitalism and socialism: the rational utilization of these forces on a global scale would terminate poverty and scarcity within a very foreseeable future.”



Herbert Marcuse, “Introduction” An Essay on Liberation (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1971), pp. 3-4.

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