Government 268 - COLQ: SCNC FCTN/PLTCL THEORY

Political theory is, in many respects, a speculative exercise; that is, in order to theorize about politics, and particularly about the possibilities of future politics, we must be capable of imagining how things might be otherwise. One popular arena for such an exercise can be found in science fiction, much of which is dedicated to imagining how human society might be altered by advances in technological capacity. While the specific technologies suggested in such work might not be available now (or perhaps ever), the speculative exercise undertaken by such works can help us to better understand the possibilities of the present. This colloquium takes up the intersection between academic political theory and popular science fiction, using works by authors including Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ursula Le Guin and Isaac Asimov to examine the ways in which we might use the body of science fiction literature to expand our political imagination. Enrollment limited to 20.