Othering and Utopias/Dystopias in Critical Science Fiction

Science fiction as a genre has always had a unique opportunity to

critique and reconceptualize modern society. Because the possible range of
settings are essentially unlimited, they vary widely from author to author and
story to story. Science fiction stories that critique society with regards to
social justice often do so by constructing a positive example of and more
equitable future society or showing a negative example where the state of
affairs is as bad as possible. Utopias and dystopias, respectively, are not
unique to science fiction focused on social justice.
The utopias and dystopias that address the problems and solutions
facing marginalized or oppressed groups can be distinguished from different
types of utopian and dystopian fiction. Feminist utopias, as defined by Carol
Pearson, are a type of science fiction that criticizes patriarchy as an
unnatural state of affairs and calls for the depiction of a world that is good
for womeni. Pearsons definition is useful here because it is easily
generalizes to other marginalized groups as well. It is reasonable to suggest,
for example, that one form of an African American utopia would criticize
racism as unnatural and call for the depiction of a world that is good for
African Americans.
This generalized definition addresses the concept of othering. Othering is the
practice of the majority labeling a certain population as somehow other
and inferior, causing major social consequences. Science fiction that
promotes social justice with utopias and dystopias sees discrimination and
othering as unnatural and harmful and tries to argue that a world that is
better for this marginalized group is the one we should pursue.
Critical utopias and dystopias that explore how to fix harmful othering
tend to see extreme imbalances in power as a major result of othering. In the
dystopian novel The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, many populations are
discriminated against, but arguably none more so than the New People.
Emiko is an artificially created and highly cultured New Person, but Buddhism
and Thai culture doesnt even believe her to be human. Because of the fact
that she was created different, she is forced to be a sex slave at a brothel
that will protect her from the rest of Thai culture that wants to kill her.
Whenever she tries to venture into the outside world, nobody sees her as
human or worthy of help. She almost dies when she is attacked by a drug
addict demeaning her as a heechy-keechyii and again when a policeman
discovers her. Her only option is to be a sex slave, and she has no leverage
to leave the county or make her life better once she realizes there is no place
in Thai society that will accept her.

Even utopic societies have imbalances in power that contribute to othering.

The alien society in Dawn by Octavia Butler is not perfect and the humans in
it resist change, but it has largely utopic characteristics when it comes to
social justice. When the aliens start to awaken the saved humans, however,
the humans immediately label the aliens as other and unnatural, even
though it is actually the Oankali who have all the power. In struggling to get
power back from the largely benevolent Oankali, the awakened humans
resort to any means necessary to gain their independence, which includes
murdering Oankali and even Liliths lover, Joseph, because he had been
granted some of the physical traits of the Oankali.
This suggests that the problem of othering is multifaceted in origin.
The majority or more powerful other the minority in order to exploit them,
and the minority and less powerful will other the majority due to the
current unfavorable division of power, as Hock Seng does to the Thais in The
Windup Girl. If both of these are possible societal sources of othering,
solutions should realize that oppression polarizes both the oppressors and
the oppressed.

i Little, Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction, 16

ii Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl, 201, scribd.com