Social Science Fiction

Sociologists of everyday life study how people create, share, and use aspects of popular culture. Sociologists are often interested in the significance of popular culture in terms of themes such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, inequality/social problems, family/social relations/community, sustainability/environmentalism, self/identity, economy/production/consumption, religion, media, and so on. Likewise, science fiction as a genre often deals with the same themes, though through imaginative content, including futuristic or alternative settings, science and technology. It is simultaneously critical and innovative in its focus on lived reality. Its imaginative elements are largely plausible within current scientific paradigms, and genre writers often explore the potential consequences of social, scientific, and technological changes in society.

Content

• The relationship between human imagination and social theory
• The social constructionism of reality
• Literary conceptualizations and representations of self and other
• Social stratification, including sexuality, gender, race/species, and class
• Political economic and cultural analyses of production and consumption
• The politics of everyday life (utopias and dystopias)
• Current issues in science, technology, and society