Science fiction, sociotechnical imaginaries and future war: new avenues for Critical Security Studies research?

In what ways can science fiction (de)stabilise dominant sociotechnical imaginaries of future war? While existing Critical Security Studies scholarship has examined the relationship between science fiction and world politics, this collection of interventions extends these insights by building on the growing conceptual interest in the study of sociotechnical imaginaries. We make two significant contributions to Critical Security Studies scholarship. First, we provide a novel conceptually informed account of how science fiction stories can inform the background understandings of (un)desirable visions of future war held by different audiences. Second, we help expand the empirical remit of sociotechnical imaginaries scholarship beyond its current focus on elite policy discourses by developing the study of science fiction as a key site of everyday sense-making and political contestation. As the introduction to this collection, this intervention contextualises existing understandings of the relationship between science fiction, sociotechnical imaginaries and future war. It also summarises the arguments developed in each of the four other interventions and identifies several areas for future research.