The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin is a widely admired work of speculative fiction originally published in 1974. It won several of the most prestigious awards in the field, including the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1974 and the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1975. It was also nominated for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1975. Thus, one could say that although some aspects of the novel and the universe it depicts might make some readers uncomfortable, its ongoing substantial sales and critical reception suggest that many readers find the work valuable.

The task of speculative fiction is to explore possible worlds and alternative realities in ways that challenge readers' imaginations, preconceptions, and values. If every reader feels comfortable with a novel, that suggests that the work itself is not deeply engaged with the main task of speculative fiction, namely, challenging readers and making them think. LeGuin, especially, has a strong commitment to social justice and sees her work as challenging many common ideas about society and making readers think about alternatives.

The novel itself constructs societies that are designed to make readers think about the relationship between individual freedom and social values, making readers ask how societies need to make choices about these often conflicting values. It also challenges many of the values that Americans held concerning gender and sexuality in the period in which it was written. Both of these challenges are part of the point of the novel, using an imaginary universe to make readers reconsider the unspoken assumptions of their own societies.