Utopia in the History of Russian Culture: Repeating the Past or Constructing the Future? (review of scientific conference)

In today’s difficult geopolitical situation, when social alarmism dominates in the public mind, it is important to comprehend the domestic experience of con­structing positive images of the future. Utopia is directly related to this, despite the trail of a “companion of totalitarianism”, a “negative pole” charged with “poisonous energy”, etc., following it in Russian, mostly liberal, humanitarian studies. How can these characteristics be combined with another generally re­cognized statement: utopia is one of the main achievements in the history of the Western ideas, which is directly related to philosophy, literature, politics, and art; is it deeply rooted in human nature, because it is connected with the dream to break with the unsatisfying surrounding reality to create an alternative, more per­fect world? The 4th All-Russian (with international participants) scientific con­ference “Utopian projects in the history of culture”, held October 26–28, 2022 at the Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don) on the topic “Russian experi­ence in constructing the future” was an attempt to overcome this “cognitive dis­sonance”.