Conceptual developments of Utopia in contemporary sociology Emphasizing the institutional approach

Thinking about ideal society has a long history in the history of human thought and has existed in most social formations. Contemporary sociology, despite its differences from the ideas of classical theorists, often includes an explicit or implicit idea of a desirable society. In recent decades, the intellectual efforts of sociologists regarding the desired state of society have mainly been based on new concepts. This article attempts to address the question of what changes have occurred in the concept of utopia compared with classical sociological views in recent decades using an analytical review method. In response, attention to institutional approaches and the increasing complexities of the new society can be put forward as a hypothesis. For this purpose, the theoretical and conceptual literature that governs the subject and features of social order and desirable society has been discussed in current sociology, which has resulted in the emergence of concepts such as good society, civil society, sane society, worthy society, and creative society. The common point of all these concepts, in addition to criticizing current situations, is drawing a better picture to promote human flourishing and social welfare. They have also discussed the importance of institutions and social structures in shaping the desired society, which was not considered before.
 
Keywords:
 
desirable society (utopia), good society, civil society, sane society, decent society, creative society.
Extended abstract
 
1.Introduction:
 
Searching for an ideal society in which there are fewer individual and social problems has been the concern of thinkers for a long time, and it exists in some way in most political and social theoretical models. From this perspective, the emergence of sociology can be interpreted as the epistemological evolution of these efforts to achieve better social conditions. The thoughts of sociological theorists mostly include an explicit or implicit idea of a desirable society because sociology has always been a field that raises questions about how society is structured and what can constitute a desirable society. The present article tries to provide a theoretical framework for understanding and analyzing modern society from the perspective of utopian thinking and to address the question of what changes have occurred in the concept of a desirable society in recent decades compared to classical sociological views.
 

Methodology:

 
The method of this study is an analytical review in which, while examining and systematically comparing the views of sociologists on the subject of the ideal society, attention has been paid to the deep analysis of the theoretical concepts that have been more influential in this field.
 
3.Findings:
 
  One of these main concepts in the literature of the desired society is the concept of "good society", the most effort in its theoretical development is due to the efforts of Robert Bella and Etzioni. Its premise is that any society, no matter how good it is, can be improved, which includes a list of shortcomings and ideas that underlie the existence of any society. Another one of these concepts is "civil society", which is based on two contradictory principles: the equality and freedom of the individual and the social autonomy of individuals. Habermas considers societies as a combination of functional systems (mainly economy and government) and Life-world. The mutual influence of systems and the Life-world is the problem of the new society, which Habermas interprets as "colonization of the Life-world ". Habermas also accepts the idea that civil society can act as a mediator between the political system and the Life-world. Geoffrey Alexander considers civil society as a sub-sector of society that is empirically and analytically separated from political, economic, and religious life to different degrees. According to him, the quality of civil society depends on various sources, including political life, economic institutions, and cultural organizations. Another concept is the "decent society" that Avishay Margalit discussed. According to him, society deserves a society whose institutions do not humiliate the people. While a civilized society is one in which its members do not humiliate each other, a decent society is one in which institutions do not humiliate people. A decent society is the necessary prelude to a just society. Eric Fromm proposes the concept of sane society" and considers society unhealthy when it is alien to the true nature of man, its characteristics, and laws. The Forum mentions some institutional arrangements for achieving a sane society. First, to achieve some level of economic justice, a sane society must ensure that all people have access to basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, and education. Another point concerns political democracy. A sane society must ensure that every voice is heard and every vote counts. Another important concept is "creative society", which has done the most theoretical and conceptual efforts in this field by Nicholas Lohmann. His most innovative contribution was the application of the theory of autopoietic systems to the understanding of modern societies. Social systems are communication reproduction networks. In addition, this theory considers the human mind as an autopoietic system that relies on the psychological system, the main element of which is consciousness. Luhmann advances his ideas about society as an autopoietic system through several functional systems such as the economy, law, politics, art, science, and religion. To understand the creative society, he proposes the concepts of functional differentiation, structural couple, and co-creative systems.
 

Discussion

 
  Although in sociological thinking there are cases with the belief that the modern age lacks utopia, it seems that in recent decades the interest in theorizing about the dimensions of a desirable society has increased in sociology. Most of these theories have paid attention from a specific angle or to a part of society that, in their view, has a greater impact on the desired situation. Another important point is to pay attention to institutional arrangements to achieve better situations, which has not been paid much attention before. Another point is to become more objective, a situation that can be strived for. This means that the distance between the desired and the current situation has been reduced to some extent, and for this reason, it makes the mental possibility of achieving it more logical, unlike the old utopias.