(2000). Religious narrative, post‐secularism and Utopia. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy: Vol. 3, The Philosophy of Utopia, pp. 205-224.

Ernst Bloch is perhaps best known for his subtle and imaginative investigation of utopias and utpoianism, but his work also provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Western culture, politics and society. Yet, because he has not been one of the easiest writers to read, his full contribution has not been widely acknowledged. In this critical and accessible introduction to one of the most fascinating thinkers of the twentieth century, Vincent Geoghegan unravels much of the mystery of the man and (...) his ideas. (shrink)

This article explores the complex ways in which Edward Carpenter deployed the concept of 'England' in his work. It examines his privileging of England over Britain, and reconstructs his attempt to delineate identities within and of Englishness. It argues that Carpenter had sympathy with elements of all three of the main modern analyses of nationality, namely liberal nationalism, post-nationalism and the post-national. In the process it charts the development of Carpenter's ideas from his early liberal patriotism, through his critique of (...) Empire, to his reflections on the First World War and its aftermath. It also notes a number of disturbing elements in his work, including anti-Semitism and a belief in the regenerating function of war. (shrink)

I would like to thank the following for their comments on earlier drafts: Yves Le Juen, Moya Lloyd, Iain MacKenzie, Shane O'Neill, and the two anonymous reviewers of Contemporary Political Theory.

I would like to thank the following for their comments on earlier drafts: Yves Le Juen, Moya Lloyd, Iain MacKenzie, Shane O'Neill, and the two anonymous reviewers of Contemporary Political Theory.

Contemporary theorization of the post-secular involves, and further invites, philosophical and historical reflection on the nature of the secular. Charles Taylor, in A Secular Age, has warned against what he terms “subtraction stories” of the emergence of modern secularism, narratives built around simplistic images of the rejection of, and liberation from, a Christian age of faith; these polemical confections need to be replaced, he argues, by accounts that register the complex processes by which secularism emerged out of the Christian, and (...) how it bears the deep traces of that origin.1 Over seventy years before Taylor's injunction, Marcuse can be seen…. (shrink)

The article seeks to consider the relationship between hope and utopianism by looking at the ancient Greek myth of Pandora's Box, with its enigmatic figure of hope. It begins by considering Hesiod's influential formulation of the myth, before examining a range of modern interpretations in which diverse conceptions of hope are to be found. Using the work of Spinoza, Hume and Day an alternative conception of hope is proposed that conjoins hope with fear. This is followed by an exploration of (...) the utopian, using this time another figure associated with the myth, Prometheus. An attempt is then made to differentiate the frequently conflated concepts of hope and the utopian. Finally, in the spirit of recent post-secularism, the two concepts are brought to bear on the nature of religion. (shrink)

Whilst Marx made scattered positive remarks about the details of communist society, he also made important negative indications. Religion features in this negativity: his critique of religion is withering, there is no mention of religious life in communism, and he is emphatic that religion will play no role in such a society. For Marx, one of the tangible freedoms of communism was freedom from religion. The critique of religion is fundamentally inscribed in the very genesis of Marx's thought, and Feuerbach (...) is crucial to understanding Marx's strictures on religion. Yet Feuerbach also figures in Ernst Bloch's very positive approach to religion, which argues that communism involves the freedom to be religious, in the sense of opening up oneself and society to the gold-bearing seams of the religious experience. This essay explores how such different conceptions of the relationship between religion and communism both draw sustenance from Feuerbach. (shrink)