Exploration Log 5: “We Must Start Over Again and Find Some Other Way of Life”: The Role of Organized Labor in the 1940s and ’50s Science Fiction of Clifford D. Simak

• Cover art by Atun Purser

My article on organized labor in the 1940s and ’50s science fiction of Clifford D. Simak went live! I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ve spent the last half year researching and reading religiously for this project–from topics such as Minnesota’s unique brand of radical politics to the work of contemporary intellectuals like C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) whom Simak most likely read.

Please check out the complete issue edited by Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk over at Journey Planet. I have also embedded the PDF below.

The issue contains great work on the depiction of labor rights in a vast variety of other SF mediums. There are four articles that touch on vintage SF. The first two listed are by wonderful community members and official “Friends of the Site.”

Rich Horton’s “Pohl Position” [the SF of Frederik Pohl]. You can check out Rich’s website here.

Brian Collins’ “Alienation and Automation: Richard Matheson’s “Steel” and the Worker as Product.” You can check out Brian’s website here.

Camestros Felapton’s “A Nightmare of Shopkeepers” [Anthony Burgers’ 1985].

Kris Vyas-Myall’s “Fighting the Suits: Workers’ Rights in Televisual Doctor Who“

workers_jp_final_webDownload

Here is my article if it’s easier to read on the site. Click each image to enlarge.

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

#1940s #1950s #bookReviews #CliffordDSimak #sciFi #scienceFiction