Speculative Fiction, Sociology, and Surveillance Studies: Towards a Methodology of the Surveillance Imaginary

Abstract

Utopian theorists often speak about the merits of reading utopian fiction in order to reimagine and rebuild a better world, but dystopian fiction is often overlooked. This is, in my view, misguided because dystopian fiction, like utopian fiction, diagnoses issues with the present, inspires activism and resistance, and, in the twenty-first century, often presents ideas of how to effect positive change through collective activism. As speculative literary genres concerned with world-building, utopian and dystopian fiction have inherent sociological concerns. These texts can therefore be utilised by sociologists and other researchers beyond the arts and humanities. Speculative fiction is important to the field of surveillance studies not only because surveillance is a major theme in these literary texts but also because their formal properties provide us with the language, imagery, and feelings associated with being under surveillance. Twenty-first-century utopian and dystopian fiction has not been thoroughly examined by surveillance scholars. Analysis of utopian and dystopian fiction in this field has also focused on texts set in, and written by authors from, the global north. Considering the plethora of dystopian novels in and beyond the global north published in recent years that discuss surveillance, the neglect of the study of these texts to date is an oversight.

Neighbourhood cooperatives for the integrated urban regeneration of mass housing areas: speculations on a proposed model

“…It is based on the ability to imagine possible scenarios that help to solve current problems. Speculative methods are typical in the field of sociology (Michael, 2016) and, recently in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), some authors call for a Lacanian approach that moves away from excessively scientific methodologies and towards a greater development of new proposals and theories (Crowther and Seifi, 2018), for the advantages of utopian and dystopian fiction in reimagining and rebuilding a better world (Hinchliffe, 2021). Along these lines, there are authors who argue that both speculative approaches and co-productive imagination make it possible to establish proposals and methodological tactics that allow progress on current problems (Duggan, 2021).…”