Merijn Oudenampsen
Utopias
Bio
Merijn Oudenampsen (1979, Amsterdam) is a sociologist and political scientist. He is affiliated to Tilburg University, doing a PhD research project on political populism and the swing to the Right in Dutch politics. He was guest editor of the 20th edition of the art journal Open, titled the Populist Imagination (NAi 2010). He edited a volume titled Power to the People, een anatomie van het populisme (Boom | Lemma 2012).
His academic work can be found here
Sinopsis
Published in 1516, Utopia by Thomas More became the founding text of the utopian tradition. Ever since then, it has functioned as a platform to gauge the merits of utopian thought and intellectual engagement as such. Does utopianism necessarily lead to violence and totalitarianism? Is it possible to transform society on the basis of ideas? What role can intellectuals play in politics?
