Define Dystopia

If I had to summarize a dystopia in one sentence I would summarize it by saying: A dystopia is a place or society where lots of suffering is present , oppression is prevalent, and many live fearful lives under the control of other’s. I chose this definition of a dystopia based off of readings and articles that we discussed throughout the semester. One source that I chose my definition based off of was the fact of what agreed discusses as a paradox of civilization. He says that in these situations liberty and freedom are dismissed and explains this by saying that civilization controls individual freedom and that justice demands that no one will escape those restrictions. This follows my definition because in dystopian societies, people are controlled and live in fear of being under the control of others which is basically slavery that causes suffering. Another example that tied into my definition is from Iris Young’s Five Faces of Oppression where the idea of exploitation and cultural imperialism are harped on because in dystopian societies the act of labor of one specific group is used to benefit another group using dominance as a means of control. Overall, during the course of this semester I learned that dystopian societies are not a place that you would want to live in, and that it is hard to reform them into better places without a multitude of different facets.