I'm looking for books like the title - a realistic but hopeful depiction of the future. Mostly interested in near future, building after the revolution type stuff, but I'd be open to more outright utopian sci-fi as long as the worldbuilding was interesting.
You will know after the first if you want to read more. The first works well enough on its own too. It's relatively near future, and relatively realistic minus like one thing. It is partly about making revolution, and KSR is always an optimist at heart.
There is also the California trilogy and while I haven't read it, I believe one is about a near future socialist society.
I liked the idea of this. It's near future, post revolution. It is overall optimistic.
Its far future, and utopic, but they are really great books about a far future communist society. None are really connected, so they can be read in any order. People generally recommend Player of Games as the first novel. I read Excession first.
There are definitely more that I ksut can't remember right now.
Seconded Everything for everyone. I think about it a lot.