Gilles Deleuze and Utopia

An (in)actual Consideration

Abstract

It is usually assumed that Gilles Deleuze is not a «utopian thinker». However, there are certain passages in his work (and, in particular, in the writings he co-signed with Félix Guattari) that, although few in number, clearly point to a not at all usual meaning of the term «utopia». The central purpose of this article consists in attending to the main theoretical implications of these passages, showing both what in them allows us to attribute to Deleuze (and Guattari) an «utopian» attitude and what does not. Secondarily, we will try to link the conclusions reached with respect to those passages with the meanings that in other authors somehow linked to the two mentioned have the words «actuality» and «inactuality».