___________________________________________________HJEASUtopias are often understood as ideal models of society belonging to the realm of the imagination that cannot be realized, or which, if realized, could have disastrous consequences. However, this colloquial usage does not coincide with the concept's scholarly usage, which has given rise to a whole field of transdisciplinary research over the last half-century. As Gregory Claeys states, utopia is a "timeless desire for human improvement. . . constant, ongoing conversation about humanity's potential. Far from being a marginal or eccentric idea, utopia. . . sums up humanity's highest aspirations" (Utopianism for a Dying Planet 13). Similarly, dystopias reflect on existing social problems of the present, often extrapolating or exaggerating the negative trends. The concept of utopia is relevant to literary studies, the history of political thought, and the social sciences, and equally significant to many artists and architects. These are merely some of the reasons why the theme of utopia drew together many scholars from various disciplines on July 3, 2024, to meet at the 24 th annual conference of the Utopian Studies Society/Europe (USSE). USSE is a European association of researchers from various fields who strive to deepen our understanding of utopia in the broadest sense. At utopian studies conferences, it is traditional for the organizers to name a focal topic to inspire the participants, though this is by no means intended to limit them. All high-quality proposals dealing with utopia or dystopia are accepted, though many scholars do tend to reflect on the main topic-this is also the case with the following papers. This time, the conference's main topic was utopia and democracy, primarily because it was organized by a research group funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, which has been investigating the relationship between democracy and utopianism. The 125 scholars, who came from five continents, met at Central European University's downtown building in Budapest, enjoying a venue that symbolically pointed to the highlighted theme of the conference, as the spaces of the building had often been empty for some time since the
Czigányik et al. (Fri,) studied this question.