In a March 29, 2024 New York Times article, the novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru suggested that the "apocalyptic systems thriller, or . . . A.S.T." has emerged out of the tumult of globalization as "fiction for the Davos set" that through "an elevated, panoramic view" and "a kind of epistemological authority" serves as "a tool for both forecasting and navigating the troubles to come."


While Kunzru's initial definition and genealogy was taken up and expanded by others like Henry Farrell and Max Read, there remain productive questions which might be asked of their examples and of the genre as a whole. Though often global in scope, the default perspective tends to be that of the West/Global North. Are there examples of works of A.S.T. (fiction or non-fiction) that displace this default perspective, and that effectively expand outwards from the Global South/non-Western powers? Similarly, Kunzru's evocation of "the Davos set" suggests a certain confluence with post-neoliberal consensus and technocracy. Is there a political imaginary to A.S.T. beyond this, or at least the possibility of one, which might illuminate liberatory or unique futures, where the troubles to come might be solved in a way that allows or even promotes systemic change? Relatedly, is A.S.T. as a genre truly future-facing, or does its apocalyptic tenor reflect its horizon, where its imbrication with dominant cultural formations suggests a limited shelf life as those formations exhaust themselves?


Ultimately this seminar hopes both to more clearly define A.S.T.--its history, its canon--and to more fully understand its function, purpose, and possible future(s). Papers addressing any of these aspects, from genealogies of predecessors, to connections with other genres or fields (such as Science and Technology Studies), to analyses of examples (expected and unexpected), to expansions of and provocations to the genre's initial assumptions and characteristics, are welcome.