Utopia, Dreaming the Impossible.

Description

Utopia was coined in 1516 by Sir Thomas More to describe an idealistic society in which common principles are shared, people live by farming simply for survival and not for commerce and private properties and money are abolished.

Thomas More created a neologism from ancient Greek by combining the words ou-topos (nowhere land) and eu-topos (happy place). The current shared significance of the meaning of “Utopia” is that it is a place of happiness, but impossible to reach.

Thomas More was most probably inspired by The Republic of Plato written in the IV century BC, in order to build a hypothesis of an ideal city, philosophical speculation, narrative creativity, and more or less successful attempts, to put into practice principles aimed at guaranteeing “a better life in a better society” which accompany human destiny.

But what is Utopia today?

There are diverse realities around the world, which have translated abstract intellectual thoughts into experiences, based on human qualities, but have they really given life to possible alternative ways of existence?

A new desire for “somewhere else” necessarily leads to an innovative re-definition of nature and the role of utopia.

In this book, Carlo Bevilacqua has tracked down and recorded some of the most surprising and colorful communities around the world, how those communities changed, how close they got to making the original utopia they were founded on come true.

It contains 25 different amazing stories that shows small, precious examples of how we can strive for a more sustainable, happy and communal livelihood.

Bevilacqua, a dreamer in his own right, has traveled the globe seeking the people that dare to believe in a better world. He did his researches and went off to find them, the true utopian believers, to photograph and hear their stories, to learn and share their visions and views. Utopian believers are the “real dreamers”, those that do not dream with eyes open but actually try to make their dreams come true.