Dystopian Times

What does it mean to say, as so many now do, that we live in “dystopian” times? With widespread historical comparisons of current politicians and concerns over potential environmental catastrophe, are we even worse off than in the 1930s? Greg Claeys considers what dystopia means to us and how to engage intelligently with it.

Gregory Claeys has been Professor of the History of Political Thought at the Royal Holloway University of London since 1992. His main research interests lie in the fields of social and political reform movements from the 1790s to the early 20th century. He has just had published by Oxford University Press the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia, entitled Dystopia a natural history. He has spoken several times at the Ethical Society, including on Thomas Paine and J.S. Mill.