Libertarian science fiction
Encyclopedia
Libertarian science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction
that focuses on the politics and social order implied by libertarian
philosophies with an emphasis on individualism
and a limited state-- and in some cases, no state whatsoever
.
As a category, libertarian fiction is unusual because the vast majority of its authors are self-identified as science fiction authors. This contrasts with the authors of much other social criticism who are largely academic or mainstream novelists who tend to dismiss any genre classification. The identification between libertarianism and science fiction is so strong that the U. S.
Libertarian Party
often has representatives at science fiction conventions and one of the highest profile authors currently in the sub-genre of libertarian science fiction, L. Neil Smith
, was the Arizona
Libertarian Party's
2000 candidate for the President of the United States
.
As a genre, it can be seen as growing out of the 1930s and 1940s when the science-fiction pulp magazines were reaching their peak at the same time as fascism
and communism
. While this environment gave rise to dystopian novels such as George Orwell
's Nineteen Eighty-Four
, in the pulps, this influence more often give rise to speculations about societies (or sub-groups) arising in direct opposition to totalitarianism.
Ayn Rand
's novel Atlas Shrugged
is a strong (perhaps the strongest) influence with an anti-socialist attitude and an individualist ethic that echoes throughout the genre.
Of more direct relevance to the science fiction end of this genre is Robert A. Heinlein
's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
, which is highly regarded even by non-libertarian science fiction readers. An award for libertarian science fiction, the Prometheus Award
, is given out every year. Some winners of the award identify as libertarians (e.g., L. Neil Smith
, Victor Koman
, Brad Linaweaver
), while others don't (Terry Pratchett
, Charles Stross
).
Some other prominent libertarian science fiction authors include S. Andrew Swann
, Michael Z. Williamson
, and John C. Wright.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
that focuses on the politics and social order implied by libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
philosophies with an emphasis on individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
and a limited state-- and in some cases, no state whatsoever
Anarcho-capitalism
Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market...
.
As a category, libertarian fiction is unusual because the vast majority of its authors are self-identified as science fiction authors. This contrasts with the authors of much other social criticism who are largely academic or mainstream novelists who tend to dismiss any genre classification. The identification between libertarianism and science fiction is so strong that the U. S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
often has representatives at science fiction conventions and one of the highest profile authors currently in the sub-genre of libertarian science fiction, L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
, was the Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Libertarian Party's
Libertarian Party of Arizona
The Libertarian Party of Arizona is the Arizona affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chair is Michael Kielsky. Between the November election in 2008 and April 1, 2009 the number of voters registered as Libertarians in Arizona, rose 11.6%, for a total of 20,256 voters...
2000 candidate for the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
As a genre, it can be seen as growing out of the 1930s and 1940s when the science-fiction pulp magazines were reaching their peak at the same time as fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. While this environment gave rise to dystopian novels such as George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
, in the pulps, this influence more often give rise to speculations about societies (or sub-groups) arising in direct opposition to totalitarianism.
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
's novel Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
is a strong (perhaps the strongest) influence with an anti-socialist attitude and an individualist ethic that echoes throughout the genre.
Of more direct relevance to the science fiction end of this genre is Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
, which is highly regarded even by non-libertarian science fiction readers. An award for libertarian science fiction, the Prometheus Award
Prometheus Award
The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, which also publishes a quarterly journal Prometheus. L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist...
, is given out every year. Some winners of the award identify as libertarians (e.g., L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
, Victor Koman
Victor Koman
Victor Koman is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and agorist. A three time winner of the Prometheus Award, Koman is mainly popular in the libertarian community. He is the owner of the publishing house ....
, Brad Linaweaver
Brad Linaweaver
Bradford Swain Linaweaver is a science fiction writer and screenwriting for low budget movies.The novella version of his novel 'Moon of Ice' was a Nebula Award finalist and the novel length version won a Prometheus Award....
), while others don't (Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, Charles Stross
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera...
).
Some other prominent libertarian science fiction authors include S. Andrew Swann
S. Andrew Swann
S. Andrew Swann is a science fiction and fantasy author living in Solon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, where much of his fiction is set. He was born Steven Swiniarski and has published some of his books as Swiniarski and some as Swann...
, Michael Z. Williamson
Michael Z. Williamson
Michael Z. Williamson is a science fiction and military fiction author. Born in Birkenhead, England, he and his family emigrated to Canada, then the United States in 1978. Williamson frequently utilizes the pen names "Mad Mike", and "Crazy Einar". He is retired from the United States...
, and John C. Wright.
Examples
- L. Neil SmithL. Neil SmithL. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
, The Probability BroachThe Probability BroachThe Probability Broach is the first novel by science fiction writer L. Neil Smith. It is set in an alternate history, the so-called Gallatin Universe, where a libertarian society has formed on the North American continent, styled the North American Confederacy.-Plot summary:Edward William "Win"... - Vernor VingeVernor VingeVernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels and novellas A Fire Upon the Deep , A Deepness in the Sky , Rainbows End , Fast Times at Fairmont High ...
, Marooned in RealtimeMarooned in RealtimeMarooned in Realtime is a 1986 murder mystery and time-travel science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a technological singularity or alien invasion. It is the sequel to The Peace War and "The Ungoverned"... - Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
, Jerry PournelleJerry PournelleJerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
and Michael Flynn, Fallen AngelsFallen Angels (science fiction novel)Fallen Angels is a Prometheus Award-winning novel by science fiction authors Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn published by Jim Baen. The novel was written as a tribute to science fiction fandom, and includes many of its well-known figures, legends, and practices... - Ken MacLeodKen MacLeodKen MacLeod , is a Scottish science fiction writer.MacLeod was born in Stornoway. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics....
, The Star FractionThe Star FractionThe Star Fraction is Ken MacLeod's first novel, published in 1995. The major themes are radical political thinking, a functional anarchist microstate, oppression, and revolution. The action takes place in a balkanized UK, about halfway into the 21st century. The novel was nominated for the Arthur C... - Ira LevinIra LevinIra Levin was an American author, dramatist and songwriter.-Professional life:Levin attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa...
, This Perfect DayThis Perfect DayThis Perfect Day , by Ira Levin, is a heroic science fiction novel of a technocratic false-utopia. It is often compared to Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World.-Plot backstory:... - Victor KomanVictor KomanVictor Koman is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and agorist. A three time winner of the Prometheus Award, Koman is mainly popular in the libertarian community. He is the owner of the publishing house ....
, Kings of the High FrontierKings of the High FrontierKings of the High Frontier is a hard science fiction novel by Victor Koman, first published in 1996.-Summary:The story is a polemic about NASA. The thesis is that NASA, far from helping space exploration, actually prevents it from going forth... - Neal StephensonNeal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
, The System of the WorldThe System of the World (novel)The System of the World, a novel by Neal Stephenson, is the third and final volume in The Baroque Cycle.The title alludes to the third volume of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which bears the same name.... - Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, The Moon Is a Harsh MistressThe Moon Is a Harsh MistressThe Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth.... - Joss WhedonJoss WhedonJoseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
(writer-director), SerenitySerenity (film)Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship... - J. Neil SchulmanJ. Neil SchulmanJoseph Neil Schulman is a novelist who wrote Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza which both received the Prometheus Award, a libertarian science fiction award....
, Alongside Night - Matthew Alexander, Wĭthûr Wē
- Ursula K. Le GuinUrsula K. Le GuinUrsula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
, The DispossessedThe DispossessedThe Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is a 1974 utopian science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, set in the same fictional universe as that of The Left Hand of Darkness . The book won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1974, both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1975, and received a nomination for...
External links
- "Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy for Libertarians" by Dan Clore
- Speech by author David Brin to 2002 Libertarian Party National Convention (U.S.)
- Speech by author L. Neil Smith at the Colorado Libertarian Party Annual Convention
- The Libertarian Futurist Society Website
- Eric S. Raymond describes libertarian ideology in science fiction
- 10 Greatest Libertarian Science Fiction Stories, by Alasdair Wilkins for io9Io9io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....