Pathways to Utopia (Paperback)

Alex Ungprateeb Flynn

ISBN 10: 0253073758 / ISBN 13: 9780253073754

Published by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. Pathways to Utopia explores how Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or MST), against all odds, has endured for forty years as one of the world's largest social movements - while transforming the way we understand the temporality of activism. Taking his cue from MST members and their generational struggle for land and justice, anthropologist Alex Ungprateeb Flynn reveals how the movement's longevity stems not only from its strong organization and collective vision but also from the productive tensions between established utopian ideals and emerging counter-utopian practices. Perceived by some as a shortcoming, this friction has proven to be a generative force, sparking creative gestures that reimagine social relations and ensuring the MST's adaptability in an ever-changing political landscape.Flynn chronicles the everyday lives of families navigating an extraordinary political reality over a fifteen-year period. At the heart of Pathways to Utopia is the realization that activism is not a momentary act but an ongoing, relational practice - one where even the smallest community actions reverberate, reshaping the very structures through which people seek to change the world.Evocatively written and balancing careful ethnography with key theoretical interventions, the book illuminates the dreams and sacrifices that characterize a life lived as struggle. Unfolding across multiple points of time, Pathways to Utopia tells a story of hope and resilience - one that promises a lasting influence on our twenty-first-century political imagination. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780253073754

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pathways to Utopia (Paperback)
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253073758
• ISBN 13: 9780253073754
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Pathways to Utopia explores how Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or MST), against all odds, has endured for forty years as one of the world's largest social movements―while transforming the way we understand the temporality of activism. Taking his cue from MST members and their generational struggle for land and justice, anthropologist Alex Ungprateeb Flynn reveals how the movement's longevity stems not only from its strong organization and collective vision but also from the productive tensions between established utopian ideals and emerging counter-utopian practices. Perceived by some as a shortcoming, this friction has proven to be a generative force, sparking creative gestures that reimagine social relations and ensuring the MST's adaptability in an ever-changing political landscape.

Flynn chronicles the everyday lives of families navigating an extraordinary political reality over a fifteen-year period. At the heart of Pathways to Utopia is the realization that activism is not a momentary act but an ongoing, relational practice―one where even the smallest community actions reverberate, reshaping the very structures through which people seek to change the world.

Evocatively written and balancing careful ethnography with key theoretical interventions, the book illuminates the dreams and sacrifices that characterize a life lived as struggle. Unfolding across multiple points of time, Pathways to Utopia tells a story of hope and resilience―one that promises a lasting influence on our twenty-first-century political imagination.

About the Author

Alex Ungprateeb Flynn is Associate Professor of Art and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.