Book excerpt: the book conducts in-depth inquiries into the practices, nature and theory of postindustrial cultural work and the humanities – and arts – based civic dialogues which cultural work promotes. Given the broad neglect of utopian thinking in the mainstream of critical social science, and in an attempt to sketch out a vision of an alternative future, the aim of the book is to outline an epistemology for cultural work as well as to reflect upon the prospects for educational cultural work practices and their function as a catalyst for civic dialogue and cultural change. A major focus of the book is on the epistemological, ecological, ethical and political dimensions of cultural work. This includes the prospects for a new form of communal workspace for knowledge and cultural learning. Cultural work and knowledge are the central topics of this book and intersect with many of the concerns on how to involve the general public in scientific, technological and economic developments to address urgent changes often deemed to be of a highly scientific nature – including climate change, sustainability, environment and development.