Imagined utopias: Brasília and the Valley of the Dawn
Hayes KE (2025)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2025
Journal
Book Volume: 55
Pages Range: 448-464
Journal Issue: 2
DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2024.2444127
Abstract
This article considers how seeing Brasília and the Valley of the Dawn, two different utopian visions in Brazil, as transitional objects might help us see something new about each. Where Brasília ended up reproducing the same inequities its planners sought to eradicate, the Valley offers its members an orderly world structured by the principles of equality and justice, in which all can evolve through hard work and merit. The Valley models the progressive, egalitarian version of modernity that Brasília was supposed to create, mediating that utopian vision with what has turned out to be the far messier reality. Reading these two capital cities through the lens of Winnicott reveals how religion is made through ‘the social ordering of things’ in which some imagined worlds are regarded as kitsch, ersatz, or the product of delusional minds, while others are accepted unquestioningly as authentic and praise-worthy visions for human life.
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Involved external institutions
United States (USA) (US)How to cite
APA:
Hayes, K.E. (2025). Imagined utopias: Brasília and the Valley of the Dawn. Religion, 55(2), 448-464. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2024.2444127
MLA:
Hayes, Kelly E.. "Imagined utopias: Brasília and the Valley of the Dawn." Religion 55.2 (2025): 448-464.
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