New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction

Surveying the vast expanse of politically charged science fiction, this book posits that the defining dilemma for these tales rests in whether identity and meaning germinate from progressive linear changes or progress or from a continuous return to primitive realities of war, death, and the competition for survival.

This book offers an interpretation of the evolution of a growing genre in literary, film, and television.As a follow-up to their 1997 collection ""Political Science Fiction"" Hassler and Wilcox have assembled twenty-four noted international scholars representing diverse fields of inquiry to assess the influential voices and trends from the past decade in ""New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction"". The terrors and technologies that permeate our daily lives have changed radically in the past decade, further highlighting the underlying speculations on our contested future that remain the core of this genre. In surveying the vast expanse of politically charged science fiction of recent years, the editors posit that the defining dilemma for these tales rests in whether identity and meaning germinate from progressive linear changes or progress or from a continuous return to primitive realities of war, death, and the competition for survival.The discussion of political implications ranges among writers from H. G. Wells, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula Le Guin, and Isaac Asimov to more radical recent voices such as Iain M. Banks, William Gibson, Joanna Russ, Philip K. Dick, and China Mieville. While emphasizing the literature, the collection also addresses political science fiction found on film and television from the original ""Star Trek"" through the newest incarnation of ""Battlestar Galactica"".