The stuff of dreams: sleep, childhood and utopianism

Almost all forms of utopian imagination and theory concentrate on the intentionally produced utopias of wake-ful human subjects. This paper seeks to offer an alternative understanding of utopia that begins from the one-third of human life concerned with (trying to) sleep. The paper begins with an introduction to sleep and childhood, highlighting the lack of attention to both concepts in accounts of utopia. I argue that the former (sleep) is predominantly treated as a plot device or a practicality within literary utopias, and that the latter tends to be associated with generic notions of 'the child' which are either reactionary, romantic or excessively philanthropic. The remainder of the paper is split into two sections, in which the prospects for utopias of, for and around sleep are considered. The first section draws upon the author's empirical research on the cultural geographies of children's bedtime routines, and in particular the affective, ritualised practices involved therein. It highlights significant congruencies with contemporary (British) debates concerning children's self-esteem, well-being and their acquisition of life-skills. Such debates are often implicitly - and hopefully - concerned with the 'future of childhood' and the future of social relations in general. Hence, I demonstrate the key role of sleep to the construction of childhood, and of childhood to the construction of popular and very public discourses surrounding hope. The second section concludes the paper. Here, I suggest a number of potential theoretical directions for utopia and sleep, drawing on the empirical material presented, and upon post-structural theorisations of utopia which have questioned process, practice, emotion, embodiment and intentionality. In this way, I begin to argue a case for the creative possibilities of utopias of, for and around sleep