"Focusing on eighteenth-century constructions of symbolic femininity and eighteenth-century women's writing in relation to contemporary Utopian discourse, this volume adjusts our understanding of the Utopia of the Enlightenment, placing a unique emphasis on colonial Utopias." "By posing questions about the inscription of gender in the context of eighteenth-century Utopian writing, the contributors shed new light on the eighteenth-century legacies that continue to shape contemporary views of social and political progress."--BOOK JACKET.