Investigation of power and dominion, through the lens of genre fiction, interviews, and essays.
“All history,” writes Maximillian Alvarez, “is the history of empire—a bid for control of that greatest expanse of territory, the past.” Evil Empire confronts these histories head-on, exploring the motivations, consequences, and surprising resiliency of empire and its narratives. Contributors grapple with the economic, technological, racial, and rhetorical elements of U.S. power and show how the effects are far-reaching and, in many ways, self-defeating. Drawing on a range of disciplines—from political science to science fiction—our authors approach the theme with imagination and urgency, animated by the desire to strengthen the fight for a better future.
The book speaks about the Trump administration and how it deviates from the United States' script and how it, in essence, remains the same.
Maximillian Alvarez's "The End of the End of History," Marisol LeBron's "Puerto Rico's War on Its Poor," and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's "What White Supremacists Know" are especially captivating.
Arundhati Roy's bit about how Republicans and Democrats are vertiually the same in a forgein policy sense resonated with me. Pakaj Mishra's bit about why he hates being compared to Edward Said is particulary interesting in how salty/nuanced his answer his.
Mark Bould's section, "Monster Vs Empire," made me laugh out loud. Never did I think opening this book would I run into a film recomendation, Oblivion (2013),
Again, cheers to the prowess of the editorial team at Boston Review for producing a very readable Forum on a dense topic. There were a few standout essays in this collection, and I enjoyed the read overall. I've got one more Boston Review from this secondhand purchase, and we'll see where that one lands.