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Astrofuturism: Science, Race, and Visions of Utopia in Space
Science, Race, and Visions of Utopia in Space is the first full-scale analysis of an aesthetic, scientific, and political movement that sought the amelioration of racial difference and social antagonisms through the conquest of space. Drawing on the popular science writing and science fiction of an eclectic group of scientists, engineers, and popular writers, De Witt Douglas Kilgore investigates how the American tradition of technological utopianism responded to the political upheavals of the twentieth century.
Founded in the imperial politics and utopian schemes of the nineteenth century, astrofuturism envisions outer space as an endless frontier that offers solutions to the economic and political problems that dominate the modern world. Its advocates use the conventions of technological and scientific conquest to consolidate or challenge the racial and gender hierarchies codified in narratives of exploration. Because the icon of space carries both the imperatives of an imperial past and the democratic hopes of its erstwhile subjects, its study exposes the ideals and contradictions endemic to American culture.
Kilgore argues that in the decades following the Second World War the subject of race became the most potent signifier of political crisis for the predominantly white and male ranks of astrofuturism. In response to criticism inspired by the civil rights movement and the new left, astrofuturists imagined space frontiers that could extend the reach of the human species and heal its historical wounds. Their work both replicated dominant social presuppositions and supplied the resources necessary for the critical utopian projects that emerged from the antiracist, socialist, and feminist movements of the twentieth century.
This survey of diverse bodies of literature conveys the dramatic and creative syntheses that astrofuturism envisions between people and machines, social imperatives and political hope, physical knowledge and technological power. Bringing American studies, utopian literature, popular conceptions of race and gender, and the cultural study of science and technology into dialogue, Astrofuturism will provide scholars of American culture, fans of science fiction, and readers of science writing with fresh perspectives on both canonical and cutting-edge astrofuturist visions.
Founded in the imperial politics and utopian schemes of the nineteenth century, astrofuturism envisions outer space as an endless frontier that offers solutions to the economic and political problems that dominate the modern world. Its advocates use the conventions of technological and scientific conquest to consolidate or challenge the racial and gender hierarchies codified in narratives of exploration. Because the icon of space carries both the imperatives of an imperial past and the democratic hopes of its erstwhile subjects, its study exposes the ideals and contradictions endemic to American culture.
Kilgore argues that in the decades following the Second World War the subject of race became the most potent signifier of political crisis for the predominantly white and male ranks of astrofuturism. In response to criticism inspired by the civil rights movement and the new left, astrofuturists imagined space frontiers that could extend the reach of the human species and heal its historical wounds. Their work both replicated dominant social presuppositions and supplied the resources necessary for the critical utopian projects that emerged from the antiracist, socialist, and feminist movements of the twentieth century.
This survey of diverse bodies of literature conveys the dramatic and creative syntheses that astrofuturism envisions between people and machines, social imperatives and political hope, physical knowledge and technological power. Bringing American studies, utopian literature, popular conceptions of race and gender, and the cultural study of science and technology into dialogue, Astrofuturism will provide scholars of American culture, fans of science fiction, and readers of science writing with fresh perspectives on both canonical and cutting-edge astrofuturist visions.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 3, 2026
Uma viagem pelas ideias que definem as clássicas utopias dos futuros no espaço. Este longo ensaio olha para as influências seminais de autores de ficção científica e cientistas na definição da ideia de exploração espacial como misto de destino último da humanidade, zona de aventura e espaço dedicado ao máximo potencial da ciência. É um cruzamento de fé científica, esperança na tecnologia e utopia que nasceu no dealbar do século XX e ainda hoje continua presente, embora atenuado.
Este ensaio olha para as visões que evoluíram ao longo de um contínuo que começa nos pulps e no trabalho de Von Braun (que não se limitou à engenharia), ao otimismo tecnológico de Clarke e ao destino manifesto de Heinlein, às visões de colónias orbitais suburbanas de Gerard K. O'Neill e termina na visão com nuances sociais e étnicas de Ben Bova.
Não cobrindo todo o espectro da ficção científica, centra-se nalgumas figuras de charneira, olhando para a forma com o espaço de ideias evolui a partir de princípios ligados a uma certa visão de superioridade inata do homem ocidental, euro-americano, mas que se vão adaptando à evolução dos tempos, abrindo-se às questões sociais para contrabalançar o simplismo das fantasias meramente técnicas.
Este ensaio olha para as visões que evoluíram ao longo de um contínuo que começa nos pulps e no trabalho de Von Braun (que não se limitou à engenharia), ao otimismo tecnológico de Clarke e ao destino manifesto de Heinlein, às visões de colónias orbitais suburbanas de Gerard K. O'Neill e termina na visão com nuances sociais e étnicas de Ben Bova.
Não cobrindo todo o espectro da ficção científica, centra-se nalgumas figuras de charneira, olhando para a forma com o espaço de ideias evolui a partir de princípios ligados a uma certa visão de superioridade inata do homem ocidental, euro-americano, mas que se vão adaptando à evolução dos tempos, abrindo-se às questões sociais para contrabalançar o simplismo das fantasias meramente técnicas.
August 16, 2018
Contributes important work in analyzing the perspectives of culture, privilege, and politics as they influenced, and were influenced by, western space activities in the 20th century. Has a rich set of references for those interested in following up further. Can get a bit repetitive at times and there were some places where I felt the analysis was tenuous or uncharitable, but overall I found it very thought provoking and informative.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews