12 June 2-4 pm 

Critique Book Manuscript Workshop (pre-read, via zoom) 

No Other Planet: Utopian Visions for a Climate-Changed World 

Mathias Thaler, PIR Edinburgh

Comments by Neil Walker (Law), Elizabeth Bomberg (PIR) and Andy Hom (PIR) 

Brief description 

This book contributes to the recovery of utopian thinking and acting by analysing a major global challenge: climate change. Its key assumption is that tackling such a complex problem inevitably gives rise to utopian thought and practice. My aim is to track utopianism in two domains – political and social theory as well as narrative art – so as to pursue twin objectives: (1) to uncover the main eutopian and dystopian tendencies in contemporary debates around the Anthropocene; and (2) to work toward a political theory of radical transformation that avoids fatalism as well as wishful thinking about climate change. The book’s methodology is grounded in political theory but is interdisciplinary in orientation, engaging with seminal insights from both utopian studies and the environmental humanities.