Centre for Critical Human Rights Research Third Inequality Forum
Professor David F. Ruccio
Utopia and critique seemingly disappeared from our academic, cultural, and political discourses after the crash of 2007-08, precisely when they have been most needed. In my lecture, I want to present for discussion the thesis that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had a much more positive assessment and appreciation of “utopian socialism,” especially the work of Robert Owen, than we find in traditional, “scientific” interpretations of Marxism.
I also intend to connect that debate over utopian socialism to the rich, long history of intentional communities in Australia, beginning with Herrnhut in 1853.
Where: Lecture Theatre 1, Building 20, University of Wollongong