Dystopian literature has traditionally been dismissed as a somewhat low form of sci-fi entertainment for teenagers or, alternatively, for nerdy, scarcely mature grown-ups. However, many books labeled as ‘dystopian’ managed to grasp and address some among the most pressing challenges for policy-makers and scholars alike, thus stimulating a conversation on very sensitive dilemmas, both in ethical and political terms. Suffice it to mention Isaac Asimov’s ‘I Robot’, foreshadowing the risks of artificial interlligence, or Kazuo Ishiguro’ s ‘Never Let Me Go’, triggering a debate on the boundaries of scientific and medical progress against the backdrop of human dignity, not to mention Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmmaid’s Tale’, once again at the very centre of the conversation on reproductive rights. Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘The Ministry for the Future’ is a welcome addition to the list, with its witty and intelligent depiction of the structural limitations of UN agencies before the challenge of climate change, and its dry account of the inefficient enforcement mechanisms provided for under international law to react to an internationally wrongful act, namely the blatant (and not so) fictional violation the 2015 Paris agreement.
La Manna, M., A Close Enough Dystopia? International Law and Climate Change in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future, in Bruno V. A, B. V. A., Campati A, C. A., Carelli P, C. P., Sfardini A, S. A. (ed.), Dystopian Worlds Beyond Storytelling. Representations of Dehumanized Societies in Literature, Media, and Political Discourses: Multidisciplinary Perspectives., Ibidem Verlag, Hannover-Stuttgart 2024: 435- 448 [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/297964]
A Close Enough Dystopia? International Law and Climate Change in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future
La Manna, Mariangela
2024
Abstract
Dystopian literature has traditionally been dismissed as a somewhat low form of sci-fi entertainment for teenagers or, alternatively, for nerdy, scarcely mature grown-ups. However, many books labeled as ‘dystopian’ managed to grasp and address some among the most pressing challenges for policy-makers and scholars alike, thus stimulating a conversation on very sensitive dilemmas, both in ethical and political terms. Suffice it to mention Isaac Asimov’s ‘I Robot’, foreshadowing the risks of artificial interlligence, or Kazuo Ishiguro’ s ‘Never Let Me Go’, triggering a debate on the boundaries of scientific and medical progress against the backdrop of human dignity, not to mention Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmmaid’s Tale’, once again at the very centre of the conversation on reproductive rights. Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘The Ministry for the Future’ is a welcome addition to the list, with its witty and intelligent depiction of the structural limitations of UN agencies before the challenge of climate change, and its dry account of the inefficient enforcement mechanisms provided for under international law to react to an internationally wrongful act, namely the blatant (and not so) fictional violation the 2015 Paris agreement.
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