Utopia and the present social order have a dialectical relationship. Utopia summarizes what has not been done or consummated, and that makes a given order that needs to be broken out of. As such it promotes changes leading to a new order, which in turn would promote further utopian visions. Humanity is in the paradoxical situation of living in a time when it is recognized that utopia is possible. The knowledge, the technological power, and the human resources are available. What is lacking is the essential confidence to undertake the utopian project. This crisis explains the gap between specific activities, such as politics and economics, and ethics and feelings; the dissociation between abstract knowledge and human feelings; the dissociation between what is done, and what is considered ought to be done. The times can be characterized by lack of utopian vision. A distopic society is one without a utopian project. In distopic societies integral personal fulfillment is limited, and there are divisions between persons due to the satisfaction of false needs and the lack of satisfaction of genuine needs.
Society is currently faced with situations in which various groups each produce what amounts to utopian visions, whether defined by scientific interests or by social or geographical origin. These visions reproduce fragmented visions of reality and thus produce fragmented utopian projects, as in the case of various global reports on development or the environment. Such groups have very limited power to change the present situation and expend much time and energy endeavouring to convince others that they hold the best or most appropriate project.