Doing Science through Feminist Speculative Fiction Writing

Session Submission Type: Lunchtime Workshop

Abstract

In a recent interview published in Sucker magazine, Walidha Imarisha characterized Black Lives Matter as “visionary” and also as “science fiction.” Here, science fiction is not merely entertainment or escapism, but rather an activist praxis in which Imarisha and other BLM activists pledge to “live this science fiction dream as if it was reality, until it becomes reality.” What would it mean to employ such a practice within efforts to decolonize science making? The leaders of this interactive workshop will speak to these efforts as part of a new multi-campus queer, race-conscious feminist formation, a Feminist Arts & Science Shop, and then lead participants in a creative feminist science fiction writing workshop. We will ask how might feminist science fiction provide alternative understandings of our bodies, environments, and social and political formations (e.g. sexual violence, global public health, racialization, addiction, medicine, disability, universal sustainable design) to point towards new ways to address social injustice.

Sub Unit

• 4S Annual Meeting

Presenters

• Xan Chacko, University of California, Davis

• Sara Giordano, San Diego State University

• Rana Jaleel, University of California-Davis

• Sarah Rebolloso McCullough, University of California San Diego

• Jasmine Wade, UC Davis