Abstract
In this article, I argue that the liberal discourse of globalisation is science fiction. That discourse, rather than simply reflecting recent trends and transformations, is part of a science fiction/globalisation intertext that encompasses both science fiction and a liberal globalisation discourse spanning the media, state officials, and multilateral economic institutions. After a brief introduction to the notion of an intertext, I examine the defining tropes and narratives of the dominant liberal discourse of globalisation. Using Isaac Asimov's Foundation series as an exemplar, I then show that these tropes and narratives are also central features of 1950s American utopian science fiction. In the fourth section, I argue not only that the narratives and tropes are similar across these two sets of texts, but also that they are animated by a similar problematic, one based on order and stability and legitimating authoritarianism.
Translated title of the contribution | Globalisation is Science Fiction |
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Original language | English |
Pages (from-to) | 647 - 667 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Millennium |
Volume | 30 (3) |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2001 |