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Survive and Resist: The Definitive Guide to Dystopian Politics
Authoritarianism is on the march--and so is dystopian fiction. In the brave new twenty-first century, young-adult series like The Hunger Games and Divergent have become blockbusters; after Donald Trump's election, two dystopian classics, 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale, skyrocketed to the New York Times best-seller list. This should come as no surprise: dystopian fiction has a lot to say about the perils of terrible government in real life.
In Survive and Resist, Amy L. Atchison and Shauna L. Shames explore the ways in which dystopian narratives help explain how real-world politics work. They draw on classic and contemporary fiction, films, and TV shows--as well as their real-life counterparts--to offer funny and accessible explanations of key political concepts. Atchison and Shames demonstrate that dystopias both real and imagined help bring theories of governance, citizenship, and the state down to earth. They emphasize nonviolent resistance and change, exploring ways to challenge and overcome a dystopian-style government. Fictional examples, they argue, help give us the tools we need for individual survival and collective resistance. A clever look at the world through the lenses of pop culture, classic literature, and real-life events, Survive and Resist provides a timely and innovative approach to the fundamentals of politics for an era of creeping tyranny.
In Survive and Resist, Amy L. Atchison and Shauna L. Shames explore the ways in which dystopian narratives help explain how real-world politics work. They draw on classic and contemporary fiction, films, and TV shows--as well as their real-life counterparts--to offer funny and accessible explanations of key political concepts. Atchison and Shames demonstrate that dystopias both real and imagined help bring theories of governance, citizenship, and the state down to earth. They emphasize nonviolent resistance and change, exploring ways to challenge and overcome a dystopian-style government. Fictional examples, they argue, help give us the tools we need for individual survival and collective resistance. A clever look at the world through the lenses of pop culture, classic literature, and real-life events, Survive and Resist provides a timely and innovative approach to the fundamentals of politics for an era of creeping tyranny.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
264 pages, Paperback
Published August 6, 2019
6 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 30, 2019
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
Big thank you to Columbia University Press for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Survive and Resist offers an intriguing premise: to look at actual dystopian political theory through the lens of fiction, film, and television. Um, helloooooo, sign me up! The execution of that premise is a readable, interesting, and thought-provoking guide to recognizing, fighting, and rebuilding after dystopian governments.
The book is broken into eight chapters: one on the basics of dystopia, two on example dystopian governments, three on how economics affects dystopias, four on survival in a dystopian state, five on individual resistance strategies and tactics, six and seven on group/movement strategies and tactics, and eight on rebuilding a new government once the dystopia falls.
This turned into a lot more of a handbook than I had been expecting, but I didn’t mind that. It was a lot more conversational and relatable this way, with “next you’ll need to do this” rather than something like “the next step a resistance movement might adopt could be.” Although I don’t personally plan to overthrow a government, I suppose you never know (especially today), and so it might just come in handy!
I really loved the context they provided with the dystopian fiction examples. It relied pretty heavily on 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fahrenheit 451, The Uglies Series, The Hunger Games, All Rights Reserved, and even the LEGO Movie and Star Trek. I wish there had actually been even more, because I’m shamefully more interested in fiction than in political theory, but it was really helpful and kept me engaged.
Some of the chapters in the book are more engaging than others (I personally struggled through the economics chapter), but overall this book was somehow both fun and informative. I also learned a ton about government structure and global history — wins!
If you like nonfiction, definitely give this one a shot.
Big thank you to Columbia University Press for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
“There are a couple of aspects to being a resilient movement. The first is that the movement has to be able to survive the loss of its top leadership. The authorities will go after the leaders first, on the theory that the group will fall apart once they’re gone. … That’s why, in the original Star Wars (1977), the Empire takes Princess Leia into custody — they can torture her into giving up the Rebel Alliance, and then they can kill her to send a message about what happens when you defy Emperor Palpatine (insert evil laugh here).”
Survive and Resist offers an intriguing premise: to look at actual dystopian political theory through the lens of fiction, film, and television. Um, helloooooo, sign me up! The execution of that premise is a readable, interesting, and thought-provoking guide to recognizing, fighting, and rebuilding after dystopian governments.
The book is broken into eight chapters: one on the basics of dystopia, two on example dystopian governments, three on how economics affects dystopias, four on survival in a dystopian state, five on individual resistance strategies and tactics, six and seven on group/movement strategies and tactics, and eight on rebuilding a new government once the dystopia falls.
This turned into a lot more of a handbook than I had been expecting, but I didn’t mind that. It was a lot more conversational and relatable this way, with “next you’ll need to do this” rather than something like “the next step a resistance movement might adopt could be.” Although I don’t personally plan to overthrow a government, I suppose you never know (especially today), and so it might just come in handy!
I really loved the context they provided with the dystopian fiction examples. It relied pretty heavily on 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fahrenheit 451, The Uglies Series, The Hunger Games, All Rights Reserved, and even the LEGO Movie and Star Trek. I wish there had actually been even more, because I’m shamefully more interested in fiction than in political theory, but it was really helpful and kept me engaged.
Some of the chapters in the book are more engaging than others (I personally struggled through the economics chapter), but overall this book was somehow both fun and informative. I also learned a ton about government structure and global history — wins!
If you like nonfiction, definitely give this one a shot.
January 23, 2021
Eminently readable for a book on politics. If I were an American, I'd keep it on my shelf just in case it might get useful.
October 19, 2020
This is a great book for all who fear for our Republic. In these times of populism and abuse of power by the President it is critical to stay informed regarding worst case scenarios. This book does a wonderful job educating the reader while entertaining. The use of dystopian movies and media to illustrate various governmental structures is very cleverly executed.
The reader will get an education and examples regarding real works totalitarian, authoritarian, and populist regimes that have historical roots with their juxtaposed Hollywood versions. There are also examples of the positive alternatives such a democratic, republic, and monarchical forms of governance. The further exploration of methods to counter the power of a dystopian regime are well documented. This includes the history of non-violent civil disobedience as practiced from MLK to Gandhi.
This all provides insight into the very real threats to our Republic from the Trump administration and tragic consequences if our population falls prey to complacency. This would be a very good read for government and history classes in our schools to insure future generations are prepared to think critically and be effective citizens.
The reader will get an education and examples regarding real works totalitarian, authoritarian, and populist regimes that have historical roots with their juxtaposed Hollywood versions. There are also examples of the positive alternatives such a democratic, republic, and monarchical forms of governance. The further exploration of methods to counter the power of a dystopian regime are well documented. This includes the history of non-violent civil disobedience as practiced from MLK to Gandhi.
This all provides insight into the very real threats to our Republic from the Trump administration and tragic consequences if our population falls prey to complacency. This would be a very good read for government and history classes in our schools to insure future generations are prepared to think critically and be effective citizens.
June 1, 2025
Recommended by a friend who teaches dystopian literature at a university. I did admire the premise of making political science accessible, but overall I thought this was pretty fluffy. Also, I have this problem with lots of new (ish) books published before COVID/George Floyd summer - this book was published in 2019 - that the content is immediately outdated and needs an updated edition to make it relevant. Nonetheless, using dystopian literature to make sense of real life governments was a clever idea.
May 3, 2019
Survive and Resist: The Definitive Guide to Dystopian Politics by Amy L Atchison and Shauna L Shames is that rare breed of academic writing that is both accessible and valuable to every reader.
There are probably a couple of ways for a reader to read this book, ideally we combine these in our reading(s). One is a straightforward discussion of dystopian literature, to include movies and television in addition to novels and short stories, and how they relate to some real authoritarian regimes. While this level of reading is interesting, it serves as just the foundation for the real value of the book: what constitutes good versus bad governance and what we can do about regimes that might be approaching authoritarian.
The writers do a wonderful job of barely acknowledging the trend toward authoritarianism in the US while pointing out the many instances from history and fiction that, to a reader living through this evil regime, reflects the attempts by the current "President" to undermine democracy and rule of law while lining his pockets at every turn. So while this volume no doubt speaks to this situation, it is not directed at this joker's regime specifically.
In first discussing the things that can lead to authoritarian rule, then delving into what those in power will do to maintain and expand that power, examples are drawn from almost every work of dystopian fiction with wide readership or viewership as well as examples from real situations from the past, both distant and near. The political theory is explained with a minimum of jargon, using little inset boxes to explain some terms the reader might not know, or might not know in the way the writers are using them.
In discussing what can be done, they state explicitly and repeatedly that they advocate nonviolence and some form of democratic rule as an ultimate goal. The same format is used for both what authoritarian governments will do and what we can do to resist, namely breaking things into strategies and tactics. This approach works very well because it relates all action, on all sides of the events, to the overarching desired results.
One valuable part of the book, and the one with the fewest examples from fiction, is what to replace the ousted government with. While it is here that the political science aspect of the book is most prevalent, it is also the part that serves as either a refresher or an introduction to types of government that are most likely to serve the people best. In popular discourse terms and concepts are often tossed around that, upon consideration, make little real sense pragmatically. Usually cases of taking a term and using one small aspect of the term's meaning and making it the entire meaning. We all do it on occasion and it does not help because misuse of a concept makes it open to easy rebuttal which derails the conversation that needs to be taking place.
I would highly recommend this to several types of readers. Clearly, from what I have already written, anyone wanting to get a nice framework for resisting authoritarianism, any place in the world, will gain wonderful insight into what is most likely to work and what is likely doomed to failure. So activists can gain a lot from this volume. Additionally, readers with an interest in dystopian fiction, from 1984 to The Lego Movie, will find much to interest them, whether from a literary perspective or from a political science perspective. Casual fans of dystopian works will find that looking at the works from these perspectives gives each work a more stimulating appearance, so future readings or viewings will offer even more insight.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
There are probably a couple of ways for a reader to read this book, ideally we combine these in our reading(s). One is a straightforward discussion of dystopian literature, to include movies and television in addition to novels and short stories, and how they relate to some real authoritarian regimes. While this level of reading is interesting, it serves as just the foundation for the real value of the book: what constitutes good versus bad governance and what we can do about regimes that might be approaching authoritarian.
The writers do a wonderful job of barely acknowledging the trend toward authoritarianism in the US while pointing out the many instances from history and fiction that, to a reader living through this evil regime, reflects the attempts by the current "President" to undermine democracy and rule of law while lining his pockets at every turn. So while this volume no doubt speaks to this situation, it is not directed at this joker's regime specifically.
In first discussing the things that can lead to authoritarian rule, then delving into what those in power will do to maintain and expand that power, examples are drawn from almost every work of dystopian fiction with wide readership or viewership as well as examples from real situations from the past, both distant and near. The political theory is explained with a minimum of jargon, using little inset boxes to explain some terms the reader might not know, or might not know in the way the writers are using them.
In discussing what can be done, they state explicitly and repeatedly that they advocate nonviolence and some form of democratic rule as an ultimate goal. The same format is used for both what authoritarian governments will do and what we can do to resist, namely breaking things into strategies and tactics. This approach works very well because it relates all action, on all sides of the events, to the overarching desired results.
One valuable part of the book, and the one with the fewest examples from fiction, is what to replace the ousted government with. While it is here that the political science aspect of the book is most prevalent, it is also the part that serves as either a refresher or an introduction to types of government that are most likely to serve the people best. In popular discourse terms and concepts are often tossed around that, upon consideration, make little real sense pragmatically. Usually cases of taking a term and using one small aspect of the term's meaning and making it the entire meaning. We all do it on occasion and it does not help because misuse of a concept makes it open to easy rebuttal which derails the conversation that needs to be taking place.
I would highly recommend this to several types of readers. Clearly, from what I have already written, anyone wanting to get a nice framework for resisting authoritarianism, any place in the world, will gain wonderful insight into what is most likely to work and what is likely doomed to failure. So activists can gain a lot from this volume. Additionally, readers with an interest in dystopian fiction, from 1984 to The Lego Movie, will find much to interest them, whether from a literary perspective or from a political science perspective. Casual fans of dystopian works will find that looking at the works from these perspectives gives each work a more stimulating appearance, so future readings or viewings will offer even more insight.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
April 4, 2019
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion of the book.
Survive & Resist is an interesting, easy-to-understand book that uses a selection of more popular dystopian fiction (film & novels) to explain and make sense of key political science concepts, such as the study of government, governance, state power, public policy, people's political behaviour, the role of economics, and social movements. The author's use dystopian fiction to explain what good governance is supposed to look like and how to resist bad governance. The book also includes a chapter on the strategies and tactics used by dictators to achieve and maintain their power; and chapters on how to survive or resist a dystopian state, as an individual and as a collective resistance group/movement, with an enphasis on non-violent resistance. The author's also cover how to rebuild society after the collapse of a dystopian government. The book provides food for thought, though I would not call this a definitive guide, and I found the historical case studies oversimplified the issues involved. An informative book.
Survive & Resist is an interesting, easy-to-understand book that uses a selection of more popular dystopian fiction (film & novels) to explain and make sense of key political science concepts, such as the study of government, governance, state power, public policy, people's political behaviour, the role of economics, and social movements. The author's use dystopian fiction to explain what good governance is supposed to look like and how to resist bad governance. The book also includes a chapter on the strategies and tactics used by dictators to achieve and maintain their power; and chapters on how to survive or resist a dystopian state, as an individual and as a collective resistance group/movement, with an enphasis on non-violent resistance. The author's also cover how to rebuild society after the collapse of a dystopian government. The book provides food for thought, though I would not call this a definitive guide, and I found the historical case studies oversimplified the issues involved. An informative book.
June 3, 2020
Definitely suggest checking this out if you love dystopians and are interested in how real world events and politics and become what you read in novels
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews