Index of social anxiety themes
SF has been a fruitful field for writers to explore (and exploit) social anxiety over technology, social change, etc. Dystopian fiction in general is a form of social anxiety work, and in this sense is not at all parallel to utopian fiction which offers a vision of hope.
Works may be dedicated solely to the proposition of exploring a particular anxiety popular in a particular time and place. Other works may be seen with a thread of the anxiety running through them, but not dedicated solely or primarily to that anxiety.
- feminist anxiety (anxiety about feminism; e.g., Alph)
- generation gap anxiety (Logan's Run / Dance the Eagle to Sleep)
- Race relations anxiety (Black in Time'")
- Communist anxiety (not just conservative but specifically Red Menace)
- collectivist anxiety (anxiety at any socialist/collectivist tendencies; "conformity")
- Sexual revolution anxiety (where are we going with all this casual sex & loosening sexual morales anyway) (The World Inside)
- Environmental anxiety ... overpopulation anxiety (The Sheep Look Up)
- Misogynist anxiety - anxiety over antifeminist trends in society (The Handmaid's Tale)
- Fascist / state power anxiety - (1984)
- Religioius oppression anxiety - anxiety over too much power for religions (The Handmaid's Tale)
Technology anxiety is of course a quintessential subject matter for science fiction (and often fantasy, through fantasy metaphors). Frankenstein is a perfect example of "what hath mankind wrought" or "what might mankind wreak". In modern days, anxiety of nuclear technology generally and nuclear war specifically produced reams of SF and an entire bibliography dedicated to the genre. In fact, the anxiety literature of the 50s was so common that the post-nuclear holocaust story became, to many writers, simply another setting, seeming to lose its punch as an "anxiety-provoking" event. More recently biotech anxiety may be taking its place, as writers return to the Frankensteinian themes explored by Mary Shelley and legends of golems.
- Nuclear war anxiety
- Biotech anxiety