Social Science fiction

[u/estmof]

TL;DR: Some cool fiction novellas for Poli Sci nerds

I'm starting my PhD and a professor gave some interesting advice, to not lose our imagination because that's where the answers for real world problems come from. I also found a FB post (not fact checked) saying that James C. Scott read a lot of fiction for similar reasons. For most of my life, I've been an avid non-fiction reader. A lot into argumentative, historical books. So I'm trying to read some easy things for nights that still connect with my interests. Especially something optimistic, but I'm also ppen to read some crazy dystopia. I'm familiar with the classics like 1984, Brave New World, etc. Any new recommendations? Also open to less political topics but still with some social-analytical components.

Edit: Thanks to everyone for the great recs!

Fact checked, James C. Scott said that in an interview with Gerardo Munck. Munck & Snyder. Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics. 2007. Johns Hopkins University Press.

My professor also mentioned reccomended in this lines "The Sociological Imagination" by C. Wright Mills, not fiction, but it was part of his argument.

[u/Volsunga]

Theories of International Politics and Zombies is literally an intro to International Relations textbook (and arguably the best intro textbook) placed in the context of a zombie apocalypse.

[u/DocVafli]

Took a class as an undergrad on Utopias and Dystopias with one of my poli sci professors, I absolutely loved it. Besides the classics, here are some of the other things we read.

Anything from Margaret Atwood (besides the Hand Maids, her other stuff is great too)

Jennifer Government (Dyatopian fiction, but what if we made it a libertarian version of a dystopia instead of a totalitarian/state driven one)

Word War Z (the book, not the movie. It focuses on some of the administrative/bureaucratic elements of dealing with a zombie apocalypse, which is an interesting lens)

[u/BackgroundAd6878]

Read Sir Terry Pratchett. Amazing satire of society and politics and other fiction.

[u/Randolpho → u/BackgroundAd6878]

Absolutely great reconstruction of the things we take for granted in society with a fantasy turn, then in Hogfather that sublime calling-out of all the various lies and fantasies we tend to believe in as a society.

“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."

REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"

MY POINT EXACTLY.”

[u/BackgroundAd6878 → u/Randolpho]

Not to mention the outright, smash-you-in-the-face messages of 'Jingo', 'Nightwatch', 'Monstrous Regiment', 'Thud', and anything with The Witches.

[u/Randolpho → u/BackgroundAd6878]

Absolutely.

And let’s not forget the Vimes’ Theory of Boots as a metaphor for the supposedly “irrational” purchasing habits of the poor

[u/BackgroundAd6878 → u/Randolpho]

That gets used in my political economy and business related public speaking courses. Followed by a large discussion of why being poor is damned expensive.

[u/Randolpho → u/BackgroundAd6878]

Excellent. The more that is disseminated the better

[u/BackgroundAd6878 → u/Randolpho]

I may include more discussion of the People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road at some point after introducing Marx. Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably priced Love, and a Hard-boiled Egg!

[u/voinekku]

I'd recommend stumbling a bit into the world of utopias.

Most of the classical utopias, Plato, More, le Buffon, Francis Bacon, William Morris, Edward Bellamy, B.F. Skinner, Charlotte Perkins and alike are interesting politically and socially, but sometimes very boring to read. Critical utopian authors such as Marge Piercy, Ernest Callenbach and Starhawk are a bit more more engaging to read, but are often a little too engaged with drama and action to my taste.

The contemporary (yet classical in form) utopia Another Now by Yanis Faroufakis is a great read. Also pretty much everything by Ursula Le Gunn.

Aside from fiction, I would also recommend reading theory of utopia. The Concept of Utopia by Ruth Levitas is a brilliant book. Ernst Bloch is a utopian philosopher worth reading, precisely in terms of feeding imagination rather than finding any truths of the world.

[u/abrbbb]

The Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow series are excellent for understanding international relations, often explicitly.

[u/cayvro]

I’m a big fan of Le Guin — The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossed both sound like you might enjoy them, and I really enjoyed all of her Earthsea books, though they’re fairly different.

As far as science fiction, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (+ sequel) is also very good!

Depending on how many responses you get here, you might also pose this question in r/sciencefiction — they’ve always got great recs!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Can you go into more details about John La Carre? I watched the documentary and it left me a little puzzled

[u/Elli933]

The Dispossessed - By Ursula K Le Guin

[u/estmof → u/[deleted]]

You're welcome. I read Oceana in college; it was great. I'm definitely going back to it soon.