Abstract
This presentation of the dossier “Political imaginations for the 21st century” aims to explore a research frontier stemming from the crossing between the exercise of political imagination and the theoretical formulation of social justice principles and propositions. For this, (1.) we offer a general definition of the concept of political imagination to then organize its double meaning as the (2.) past-present and (3.) present-future of political reality. This third step sets the structuring argument of this special issue. By relocating the relation between political utopia and imaginations, we focus on John Rawls’ work precisely for its definition of producing “realistic utopias.” With this definition, Rawls teaches us how to locate our formulations on justice as belonging to a transfiguring political movement. This broadening of the limits of what is possible to us (regarding a Rawlsian politics of transfiguration) continues to echo the call for us to keep producing achievable utopias on what justice requires from us, citizens of a democratic Society which insistently fails to fully realize itself. Thus, following this echo, we conclude by showing the articles constituting this dossier.
Keywords:
Political Imagination; Social Justice; Democracy; Realistic Utopia; John Rawls