Racial settler utopianism: Duncan Bell, ‘On Racial Utopianism’, in Daniel R. McCarthy, Matthew Fluck (eds), Reclaiming Utopia in International Relations: Problems and Prospects, Bristol University Press, 2026, pp. 131-152 | settler colonial studies blog

Racial settler utopianism: Duncan Bell, ‘On Racial Utopianism’, in Daniel R. McCarthy, Matthew Fluck (eds), Reclaiming Utopia in International Relations: Problems and Prospects, Bristol University Press, 2026, pp. 131-152

16Nov26

Abstract: This chapter explores the meaning of racial utopianism. I contrast the idea of Anglotopia, a white racial utopia based on the contention that the political unification of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ race could create perpetual peace, with a variety of fin de siècle and interwar Black utopian visions, which targeted white supremacy, a pervasive form of injustice that foreclosed the possibility of true freedom and flourishing for Black communities in the United States and around the world. The comparison illustrates the value of reading speculative fiction as a site for the imaginative articulation of political ideas. Juxtaposing these traditions allows me to explore the importance of race in the construction of utopian visions, while also pinpointing important conceptual and ethico-political differences between them.

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