Once a driving force of political change, utopian visions – a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities – are now out of fashion… In SFF these days it’s all about dystopia – a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening – such as The Hunger Games. But is this a lost opportunity or a new realism? Should we create new utopias and thereby impel social advance, or will we learn the lessons of history and remain sceptical of grand visions?

Well, that’s what a panel consisting of visionary novelist Kim Stanley Robinson, Alex Callinicos and Marina Benjamin will discuss in this excellent panel called Paradise… Lost?. Ian Johnson hosts.