technological-utopianism

This chapter explores the origins and ideological context of modern rocketry, focusing on pioneers like Tsiolkovsky who were driven by visionary dreams of spaceflight rather than practical or political motives. It situates their work within the broader socio-political landscape of Russia, highlighting the tensions between technological progress and authoritarian control under both the tsarist and Bolshevik regimes. The chapter also examines the contradictions faced by Soviet science policy, which sought rapid technological advancement while suppressing intellectual freedom and foreign influence.

The 'Preamble' introduces the book's central concern: the lost capacity of the political left to envision and build a transformative future despite unprecedented technological potential. It critiques 'folk politics'—a defensive, localized, and fragmented approach to political struggle—and argues for a new, ambitious left politics that harnesses technological advances to overcome capitalism and achieve universal prosperity and emancipation. The chapter diagnoses the failures of neoliberalism and social democracy, emphasizing the need to reclaim control over the future through a collective and modern political project.

This chapter examines early American naval innovations during the Revolutionary War, focusing on David Bushnell's Turtle submarine as the first combat submarine and Robert Fulton's pioneering role in developing superweapons. Fulton articulated a technological-utopian ideology linking industrial capitalism, free trade, education, and mechanical innovation to the abolition of war and the promotion of republican peace and prosperity. Despite the limited military success of his submarine Nautilus, Fulton continued to innovate with advanced weapons, believing that such technologies could dismantle traditional military powers and foster universal harmony.

The chapter examines early 20th-century American speculative fiction and propaganda that depicted Germany as a dire threat, fueling militarization and public support for war through various literary forms targeting different audiences. It traces the evolution of superweapon imagery from air power fantasies to atomic-like weapons wielded by self-made genius inventors who assume godlike authority to impose peace and global order, often intertwined with fascist ideologies emphasizing centralized control, racial segregation, and corporate state capitalism. These narratives reflect ambivalence toward technological destruction while promoting utopian visions of enforced peace through ultimate weapons.

The chapter examines the historical and ideological development of air power, contrasting optimistic American visions of flight as a means to end war with European fears of aerial destruction. It highlights how future-war fiction and real-world events, such as Italy's bombing campaigns in Libya, shaped narratives of air power as both a tool for imperial domination and a potential path to global peace, often underpinned by racialized and imperialist assumptions. The text situates these ideas within the broader frameworks of industrial capitalism and technological-utopianism, revealing the contradictions and justifications behind the use of aerial superweapons.