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Ruth Levitas (born 15 May 1949 in London) is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol. She is well known internationally for her research on utopia and utopian studies.

Her book, The Concept of Utopia (1990), addresses the notion of the ideal society throughout European history. Her follow-on book, Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society (2013), makes the case that 'utopia should be understood as a method rather than a goal.' She has formulated a program of sociology which is fundamentally utopian-focused in conventional sociological discourse.

In The Inclusive Society?: Social Exclusion and New Labour (2005), Levitas introduced the idea of social exclusion as part of the new political language. She also introduced the concepts of MUD (the moral underclass discourse), SID (the social integration discourse), and RED (the redistribution discourse), as tools for analysing social exclusion.

Honors

In 2012 Levitas was awarded the Lyman Tower Sargent Distinguished Scholar Award by the North American Society for Utopian Studies.

References

1. Bristol, University of. "Sociology, Politics and International Studies Directory". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
2. Sargent, Lyman Tower (15 August 2013). Freeden, Michael; Stears, Marc (eds.). Ideology and Utopia. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199585977.013.0016.
3. Levitas, Ruth (2013). Utopia as Method. doi:10.1057/9781137314253. ISBN 978-0-230-23197-9.
4. Ruth Levitas, Where there is no vision, the people perish: A utopian ethic for a transformed future, CUSP essay series on the Ethics of Sustainable Prosperity | No 5, https://www.cusp.ac.uk/themes/m/m1-5/#1475182667098-0328ae0f-4bcbf2c7-159e13d8-96cc
5. Levitas, Ruth (2005). The Inclusive Society?. doi:10.1057/9780230511552. ISBN 978-1-4039-4427-6.
6. Higate, Paul (2000). "The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour (Book Review)". Sociology. 34: 358–359. doi:10.1017/s0038038500300232.
7. "Lyman Tower Sargent Award for Distinguished Scholarship". 6 April 2013.

External links

• Ruth Levitas' webpage at the University of Bristol

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