ABSTRACT
This article rejects the argument that utopian thinking has ended, but that current Utopias show new essential topics, above all with respect to ecological questions. Utopian as well as dystopian content can be found particularly in current disputes on nature, agriculture and food and are influencing controversies about new technologies and the environment. Therefore, the article analyses utopian and dystopian thinking historically, before it raises the question to which extent a ‘new’ utopian thinking can be identified. Especially with regard to interpretations of debates on the man-nature relationship, utopian thinking is currently taking place less in designs of ideal social systems and more in questions concerning the lifestyle of individuals. The utopian thinking, so to say, withdrew from public places – into the garden.
