Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond: Feminist Ecocriticism of Science Fiction

Ecocriticism of science fiction explores how patriarchal domination of nature and the oppression of women are core causes of the current ecological catastrophe. Ecofeminist science fiction helps us conjure utopias that promote environmental sustainability based on more egalitarian human relationships. Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond provides compelling analyses of far future dystopias and science fiction utopias that offer liberatory alternatives.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 09 January 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

In the face of a climate crisis that appears to be growing more irreversible with each passing year, our literary depictions of the future frequently depict a catastrophic collapse of the world as we know it. Science fiction delves into the origins of our current ecological predicament, while also pointing us toward a more hopeful path forward. From an ecofeminist perspective, a fundamental cause of our current ecological crisis is the patriarchal domination of nature, which unfolds in parallel with the oppression of women. Ecofeminist science fiction serves as an alternative to dystopian futures that seem increasingly inevitable, allowing us to envision utopias that promote environmental sustainability through more egalitarian human relationships.

Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond: Feminist Ecocriticism of Science Fiction delves into the fictional worlds created by renowned novelists such as Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Doris Lessing, and Joan Slonczewski, as well as those of lesser-known science fiction writers. These authors collectively explore humanity's most pressing existential threats. Contributors from five continents offer insightful analyses of far-future dystopias on Earth that are all too easily imaginable if humankind continues on its current trajectory, as well as provocative insights into science fiction utopias set on idyllic planets orbiting distant stars. These utopias offer liberatory alternatives that may one day become a reality in the real world. By examining the connections between environmental destruction and the domination of women, Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond provides the tools to counteract these intertwined oppressions, laying the foundation for a truly habitable world.

Weight: 367g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367716295