Utopia as Method: Citizens’ Climate Assemblies and the Reimagining of Political Reality

Abstract

Citizens’ Assemblies are participatory democratic institutions that convene randomly selected, representative groups of citizens to deliberate on major policy challenges. Recently, Climate Citizens' Assemblies (CCAs) have proliferated, with over 200 such deliberative bodies implemented globally. By employing methods aligned with utopian political thought—including public education, collective decision-making, and imaginative engagement with possible futures—this article considers whether CCAs create the possibility of spaces for reimagining socio-ecological relations and collective possibilities. It proceeds through a comparative analysis of three prominent cases drawn from Scotland, France, and the UK. The study considers how assembly design elements and methodological approaches such as future scenarios influence participants’ capacity for transformation through political imagination—collective efforts to push past existing boundaries—and engagement with ambitious climate action. Transformation is conceived as not only tangible policy outcomes but also participant empowerment, cultivation of political agency, and creation of spaces for creativity and experimentation. This article argues that enhancing participant agency, broadening public engagement, and implementing more innovative design elements could strengthen CCAs’ capacity to catalyse transformative climate action. The analysis suggests that, when effectively structured, CCAs can serve as crucial sites for generating new political possibilities and reimagining socio-ecological futures. However, their success in translating deliberative outcomes into substantive policy change requires overcoming significant structural and logistical barriers.