What Makes a Utopia Inconvenient? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Realist Orientation to Politics

Being Realistic and Demanding the Impossible

“…For instance, in recent works we read that realism can lead to a "collapsing of the space for serious challenges to major social and political institutions (Markell, 2010, p. 176), that "the closer political theorists are to politics the more their own judgment and frailties will be tested" (Philp, 2012, p. 646), and that "realism will inevitably tend to nudge us towards a greater acceptance of the status quo, towards more modesty in the change that we are prepared to propose or demand" (Finlayson, 2017, p. 271). In this article I resist those claims, and contribute to the project of reclaiming the radical potential of political realism (Brinn, 2019;Cross, 2019;Honig & Stears, 2011;McKean, 2016;McQueen, 2016;Prinz, 2016;Raekstad, 2016;Prinz & Rossi, 2017). I develop a form of realism as genealogy-both debunking and vindicatory-and show how it can be more radical than both ideal and nonideal approaches to normative political theory.…”

Being realistic and demanding the impossible

“…For instance, in recent works we read that realism can lead to a “collapsing of the space for serious challenges to major social and political institutions (Markell, , p. 176), that “the closer political theorists are to politics the more their own judgment and frailties will be tested” (Philp, , p. 646), and that “realism will inevitably tend to nudge us towards a greater acceptance of the status quo, towards more modesty in the change that we are prepared to propose or demand” (Finlayson, , p. 271). In this article I resist those claims, and contribute to the project of reclaiming the radical potential of political realism (Brinn, ; Cross, ; Honig & Stears, ; McKean, ; McQueen, ; Prinz, ; Raekstad, ; Prinz & Rossi, ). I develop a form of realism as genealogy–both debunking and vindicatory–and show how it can be more radical than both ideal and nonideal approaches to normative political theory.…”

Afterword: the utopianisation of bureaucracy

“…Yet, the project has continued to flourish on the publicly declared premise that it will fashion a transparent regime of governance: that it is a revolutionary, technological fix, which will address the hitherto unwieldy management of the colossal Indian state. As such, it bears testimony to a utopian thinking, which Mckean has described as ‘reflections on highly desirable and hoped for social and political circumstances that include no necessary reference to the means, costs, or feasibility of achieving them from our present condition’ (: 876).…”