Reactionary worldbuilding from speculative imagination to political practice edited by Anindita Banerjee, Sherryl Vint, David M. Higgins, and Jordan S. Carroll

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Banerjee, Anindita, editor.

Vint, Sherryl, 1969- editor.

Higgins, David M. (David Michael), editor.

Carroll, Jordan S., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science fiction--History and criticism.

Science fiction.

Right and left (Political science) in literature.

Conservatism in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts The MIT Press [2026]

Summary:

"The first in-depth study of the dark side of worldbuilding, exploring the connection between speculative imagination and political practice. Speculative imagination brings to life an array of possible worlds that differ in crucial ways from the one governed by shared assumptions of the “normal,” “real,” or “inevitable.” This act of speculation—known as worldbuilding—has become undeniably resurgent in our times of multiple crises. Worldbuilding has long been associated with progressivist impulses, yet this book examines how worldbuilding has also been conducive to a diametrically opposite set of ideologies and politics, including apocalyptic reenactments, alternative histories, and conspiracy theories. Reactionary Worldbuilding, edited by Anindita Banerjee, Sherryl Vint, David Higgins, and Jordan Carroll, analyzes how interrogating these reactionary modes can open up new ways of imagining value and belonging, justice and what is natural, history and its lessons, and the future and pathways to it. Combining theoretical and analytical perspectives with site-specific knowledge of various periods and regions around the world, from interwar Germany to Soviet Central Asia, post-independence India to contemporary South Korea, this volume traces the durable and persuasive appeal of reactionary worldbuilding far beyond the boundaries of the current moment. The speculative arts of reactionary worldbuilding cannot be dismissed as mere excesses of extremist fantasy; instead, this collection demonstrates that they can serve as crucial foundations for making sense of the self and the world and shows why it is urgent that we critique their power"-- MIT Press Direct

Contents:

Introduction : reactionary worldbuilding : politics and form / Anindita Banerjee and Sherryl Vint

Superhuman politics : Ayn Rand, Theodore Sturgeon, and the invention of the neoliberal hero / Stephen Schryer

Against Crichtonism : climate change denial in State of Fear / Steven Holmes

Patriotic time travel : the nationalist turn in contemporary Polish science fiction / Anna Kurowicka and Paweł Frelik

Worldbuilding and reactionary strategies : understanding a deadly fundamentalist dystopia in Turkey through Hot Skull / Ali Rıza Taşkale

Confronting reactionary postnationalism in Generation 14 / Suparno Banerjee

We’re sorry we created the torment nexus / Charles Stross

Reverse engineering : speculative megaprojects, reactionary modernisms, and early German science fictions / Erik Born

Political cosplay : QAnon, White Squall, and narrative politics / Sherryl Vint

Liberal fascism : a case study in reactionary alt-history / David M. Higgins

Green walls : everyday ecofascism and the politics of proximity / April Anson and Anindita Banerjee

Libertarians in space : the deep space utopia of the short film Libra / Simon Spiegel

The enchanted biopolitics of dark cosmism / Taylor R. Genovese

Subterranean Asias : Cold War extraction and reactionary worldbuilding / Raina Bhagat

Reactionary violence as a genre of climate change / Stephanie LeMenager

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (MIT Press Direct, viewed June 3, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Reactionary worldbuilding

ISBN:

9780262053686

0262053683

9780262053693

0262053691

OCLC:

1592863784

Access Restriction:

Some versions Open access versions available from some providers open access