f Utopia as method in children’s literature research

This article discusses the significance of Jack Zipes’s contribution to the field of children’s studies in the context of utopianism, and outlines the influence of his work on scholars exploring utopian writing for children. It also proposes that Zipes’s research and his work with young readers, for example in the Neighborhood Bridges drama project, exemplifies the use of utopia as method, an approach proposed by Ruth Levitas as a critical tool to expose the deficiencies of the present and develop possible futures. The article also argues for extending the application of the utopian method to the study of children’s literature, in the form of participatory methodologies aimed at involving young readers as partners in the research process. It concludes with a plea for children’s literature scholars to look at Zipes’s work as paving the way for more publicly and politically engaged children’s literature scholarship.