Utopian thought: Re-visioning gender, family, and community (original) (raw)

2000, Community, Work & Family

Utopian ideals are vital to sustained engagement in the struggle to create a better society. However, the problematic aspects of utopian traditions also need to be addressed as part of the work of social movements. This paper offers a framework for exploring the interplay of healthy and pathological forms of idealization in groups and for analyzing the non-rational dimensions of group life. In critiquing communitarian thought, the paper develops a socialist± feminist and psychoanalytic perspective focusing on the connections between family, sexuality, and democratic community. The paper concludes with political strategies for grounding utopian ideals in contemporary struggles for reform. KEY WORDS Utopia, communitarian, psychoanalytic feminism, family and community, psychoanalytic group psychology RE  SUME  Les visions d' utopie jouent un ro à le tre Á s important dans les mouvements visant a Á faire une transformation sociale. Pourtant, dans ces projets tranformatifs, il faut aussi tenir compte des aspects les plus proble  matiques des traditions utopiques. Dans cet article, les auteurs proposent une strate  gie pour l' exploration de l' effet re  ciproque des formes d' ide  alisation saines et pathologiques et pour analyser les aspects non-raisonnables en la vie des groupes sociales. En critiquant les ide  es des`communitarians', une perspective socialist± feministe et psychoanalytique est pre  sente  e qui met au centre de l' analyse les rapports entre la famille, la sexualite  et la communaute  democratique. Pour conclure, on propose quelques strate  gies politiques pour inte  grer des ide  ales utopiques dans les luttes actuelles pour la re  forme. MOTS CLEFS L' utopie, communitarian, feminisme psychoanalytique, la famille et communaute, groupe sociale psychoanalytique Every oppressed group needs to imagine through the help of history and mythology a world where our oppression did not seem the pre-ordained order ¼ The mistake lies in believing in this ideal past or imagined future so thoroughly and single-mindedly that ® nding solutions to present-day inequities loses priority, or we attempt to create too-easy solutions for the pain we feel today [1].