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Social Science Feminism & Feminist Theory

Drones, Clones, and Alpha Babes

Retrofitting Star Trek's Humanism, Post-9/11

by (author) Diana M.A. Relke

Publisher
University of Calgary Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2006
Category
Feminism & Feminist Theory
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552381649
    Publish Date
    Apr 2006
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781552383308
    Publish Date
    Apr 2006
    List Price
    $29.95

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Description

 

The Star Trek franchise represents one of the most successful emanations of popular media in our culture. The number of books, both popular and scholarly, published on the subject of Star Trek is massive, with more and more titles printed every year. Very few, however, have looked at Star Trek in terms of the dialectics of humanism and the posthuman, the pervasiveness of advanced technology, and the complications of gender identity.

In Drones, Clones and Alpha Babes, Diana Relke sheds light on how the Star Trek narratives influence and are influenced by shifting cultural values in the United States, using these as portals to the sociopolitical and sociocultural landscapes of the United States, pre- and post-9/11. From her Canadian perspective, Relke focuses on Star Trek's uniquely American version of liberal humanism, extends it into a broader analysis of ideological features, and avoids a completely positive or negative critique, choosing instead to honour the contradictions inherent in the complexity of the subject.

 

About the author

Diana M.A. Relke is founding member and professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where she teaches courses in feminist theory, science fiction, and popular culture. Having served five years in the Canadian Navy as a communications specialist, Relke is drawn to Star Trek’s kinder, gentler version of Anglo-American Naval tradition and intrigued by its imaginative projection of communications technologies into the future.

Diana M.A. Relke's profile page

Editorial Reviews

 

Sharp and engaging . . . Relke takes a detailed and intelligent approach to Star Trek

—Duncan Barrett, University of Toronto Quarterly