Introduction

The articles in this issue examine science fiction in literature and film from the vantage point of critical theory and sociology. In their initial form, the articles by George Lundskow, Sarah MacMillen, Charles Thorpe, and Harry F. Dahms were presentations given at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society in Chicago, April 17–20, 2019. The overarching theme of the conference was "Queering/Querying Bodies." The theme of the session in which the above authors presented their work was "Science (Fiction), Utopianism, and Critical Theory," organized by Lauren Langman, Department of Sociology, Loyola University. The articles by Lawrence Hazelrigg and Roberto Ortiz were added once a special issue became a distinct possibility. The first three articles of this issue, by Dahms, Hazelrigg and Lundskow, examine examples of science fiction in film and/or television, while the others, by Thorpe, MacMillen, and Ortiz, examine prominent literary works.

The first article, by Harry F. Dahms, serves as an introduction to this issue, as it raises a number of general issues relating to the relationship between science fiction, critical theory, and sociology; Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) and Denis Villeneuve's Arrival (2016) provide a foil for critiquing systems of social relations that have become hindrances on the ability of humans to be self-possessing beings who are able to face proliferating challenges in constructive fashion. In the second article, by Lawrence Hazelrigg, Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985) functions as a means to highlight problematic features of the kind of administrative logic that is at work in modern societies. The third article, by George Lundskow, examines an entire range of examples from film and television that draw attention to tensions surrounding forms of resistance and revolution in the early twenty-first century.

The fourth article, by Charles Thorpe, critically examinines Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam Trilogy. The fifth article, by Sarah MacMillen, presents a critique of aspects of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, especially insofar as motives that inspired and were spelled out in her work foreshadowed dilemmas that the #MeToo movement has been confronting. The fifth and final article, by Roberto Ortiz, employs Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 to shed light on links between financialization and climate change.