New Books in Critical Theory Justin L. Mann, "Breaking the World: Black Insecurity and the Horizons of Speculation" (Duke UP, 2026)
Jan 29, 2026
Justin L. Mann, assistant professor of English who studies Black speculative fiction and security, discusses how Black imaginaries reveal the politics of securitization. He traces ties between SF, Reagan-era policy, and mass incarceration. Short, sharp takes cover Octavia Butler, climate and pandemic fictions, racial tectonics, and abolitionist alternatives to technocratic safety.
01:45:56
How A Podcast Sparked The Project
- Justin discovered Max Brooks consulting for the CDC and DOD, which led him to research SF authors' role in policy.
- That rabbit hole revealed 1980s science-fiction-linked policy networks influencing the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Speculation Shaped Cold War Security
- State-aligned speculative futurism shaped Reagan-era securitization and policy formation.
- Black speculative fiction offers alternative worldmaking that challenges state assumptions about safety.
Securitization vs Black Insecurity
- Securitization builds infrastructures, ideas, and affects that present safety as universal while masking racialized harms.
- Black insecurity describes how Black speculative fiction exposes safety's uneven distribution and the dangers of seeking 'safety' under the state.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app 1 chevron_right 2 chevron_right 3 chevron_right 4 chevron_right 5 chevron_right 6 chevron_right 7 chevron_right 8 chevron_right 9 chevron_right 10 chevron_right 11 chevron_right 12 chevron_right 13 chevron_right 14 chevron_right 15 chevron_right 16 chevron_right 17 chevron_right 18 chevron_right
Intro
00:00 • 2min
Project Origins: SF, State Policy, and Surprising Links
02:22 • 54sec
Why Octavia Butler Matters to Security Studies
03:17 • 6min
Defining Securitization and Black Insecurity
09:34 • 10min
Mobilizing Black Feminism for Security Critique
19:40 • 9min
Butler’s Letter to the LA Times and Assured Survival
29:05 • 7min
Speculation in the Reagan Era: SF Authors and SDI
35:54 • 11min
Dawn’s Rejection of Assured Survival and SF Tropes
46:42 • 12min
Multiculturalism, the 1990s, and Wars of Intervention
58:29 • 52sec
Joe Haldeman’s Forever Peace and Military Service
59:21 • 14min
Pandemics, Biosecurity, and Racialized Bodies
01:12:51 • 6min
Colson Whitehead’s Zone One and Body Integrity
01:19:06 • 8min
Security, Care, and Redistribution as Alternatives
01:27:23 • 3min
Racial Tectonics: Climate, Land, and World-Breaking
01:29:59 • 5min
Rage, Sedimentation, and Long-Term Change
01:34:50 • 7min
Practical Takeaways: Suspicion, Abolition, and Imagination
01:41:56 • 3min
Current Projects: Dreams and the Aesthetics of Muscle
01:45:16 • 2min
Outro
01:47:22 • 9sec
#
The alchemy of race and rights
Patricia J. Williams
'The Alchemy of Race and Rights' explores the intersection of race, law, and personal experience.
Patricia Williams uses personal anecdotes to dissect complex legal concepts and reveal the ways in which race and class shape individuals' interactions with the legal system.
The book challenges traditional legal discourse by incorporating narrative and emotion.
It examines issues such as contract law, property rights, and civil rights through a critical lens.
Williams's work highlights the importance of understanding the human impact of legal structures and the need for greater social justice.
#
Forever Peace
Joe Haldeman
#
Mutual Assured Survival
Jerry Pournelle
#
Breaking the World
Black Insecurity and the Horizons of Speculative Fiction
Justin L. Mann
#52044
Terrorist Assemblages
Homonationalism in Queer Times
Jasbir Puar
Jasbir Puar's "Terrorist Assemblages" offers a critical analysis of the intersection of queer theory, postcolonial studies, and the politics of terrorism.
The book challenges conventional understandings of terrorism by examining how sexuality and gender intersect with geopolitical power dynamics.
Puar deconstructs the ways in which the figure of the 'terrorist' is constructed and deployed, revealing the underlying assumptions and biases that shape our perceptions.
The book explores the complexities of identity and power, arguing that identities are not fixed but rather fluid and contingent.
Ultimately, "Terrorist Assemblages" provides a nuanced and provocative analysis of the relationship between terrorism, sexuality, and global politics.
#
Space
Brandon Weichert
#83075
The Right to Maim
Violence, War, and Disability
Jasbir Puar
Jasbir Puar's "The Right to Maim: Violence, War, and Disability" offers a critical analysis of the ways in which violence is inflicted and experienced in the context of contemporary warfare.
Puar challenges traditional understandings of violence, arguing that it is not simply physical harm but also encompasses the ways in which bodies are rendered vulnerable and disabled.
The book examines the intersection of violence, sexuality, and disability, particularly in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Puar's work is groundbreaking in its exploration of the complex relationship between violence, power, and the construction of identity.
It provides a powerful framework for understanding the ways in which violence shapes the lives of marginalized communities.
#
Zone
Guillaume Apollinaire
'Zone' est un poème emblématique de Guillaume Apollinaire, publié en 1913 dans le recueil 'Alcools'.
Il marque une rupture avec les formes poétiques traditionnelles, célébrant la modernité et la vie urbaine.
Le poème évoque des thèmes tels que la religion, l'industrialisation et les voyages, reflétant le dynamisme et les contradictions du début du XXe siècle.
Apollinaire utilise une langue simple et directe, mêlée à des images surréalistes et des références culturelles variées.
'Zone' est considéré comme un manifeste de la poésie moderne, influençant de nombreux poètes et artistes.
L'œuvre capture l'effervescence et les transformations de son époque, tout en explorant les sentiments personnels et les réflexions du poète.
#3303
• Mentioned in 13 episodes
The Forever War
Nick Bryant
#186
• Mentioned in 110 episodes
Snow Crash
Neal Stephenson
Published in 1992, 'Snow Crash' is a science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson that delves into a future where the United States has fragmented into corporate city-states and the internet has evolved into a virtual reality called the Metaverse.
The story follows Hiro Protagonist, a pizza delivery driver and part-time hacker, and Y.T.
, a teenage skateboard courier, as they navigate a complex world threatened by a mysterious computer virus and a powerful drug known as Snow Crash.
The novel explores themes of history, linguistics, anthropology, and computer science, and is noted for its prescient vision of the metaverse and its influence on Silicon Valley innovators.
#3326
• Mentioned in 13 episodes
City of Quartz
Excavating the Future in Los Angeles
Mike Davis
In *City of Quartz*, Mike Davis delves into the complex history of Los Angeles, exploring how the city has been influenced by various powerful groups, including real estate boosters, the Protestant elite, Jewish Westside elites, homeowner groups, and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The book critiques the city's development, highlighting issues of racial tension, economic inequality, and the transformation of Los Angeles into a 'fortress city' characterized by fear and surveillance.
Davis also examines the impact of market forces on urban design and the lives of different classes, concluding with a study of the de-industrialized town of Fontana, which he terms a 'junkyard of dreams'.
#2259
• Mentioned in 18 episodes
Dark Matter
A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
Sheree Renée Thomas
This anthology, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, features a collection of 29 fictional short stories and novel excerpts, along with five non-fiction essays.
It showcases the work of various African-American writers in the science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction genres, highlighting their contributions and the diversity within these genres.
The book includes works by notable authors such as W.E. B.
DuBois, Octavia Butler, and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, among others, and addresses themes of race, inequality, and societal issues through speculative fiction.
#2828
• Mentioned in 15 episodes
World War Z
An Oral History of the Zombie War
Max Brooks
World War Z is an apocalyptic horror novel that presents a series of interviews conducted by a fictionalized version of the author, Max Brooks, a decade after the end of the Zombie War. The book chronicles the outbreak of the zombie pandemic, which begins in China and quickly spreads globally, causing widespread chaos and the collapse of global order.
The narrative includes accounts from various individuals around the world, highlighting the desperate struggle for survival, the failures and successes of different countries' responses, and the eventual reclaiming of the planet through a combination of military strategies and societal changes.
The novel comments on themes such as government ineptitude, survivalism, and the human condition in the face of catastrophic events.
#15547
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
Dawn
Eleanor Hodgman Porter
Breaking the World: Black Insecurity and the Horizons of Speculation (Duke UP, 2026) takes Black speculative fiction as a central archive for understanding global security culture from the Reagan administration to the present. Drawing on black feminist, critical race, and queer of color theoretical traditions, Justin L. Mann posits that world-breaking is an ethical and aesthetic orientation to the dangerous, worldmaking process of securitization--the process by which state and parastate agents augment and build up the tools, techniques, and infrastructures intended to make people safer. World-breaking appears in the fiction of Octavia E. Butler, Colson Whitehead, N.K. Jemisin, in the music and video work of Janelle Monae, as well as unexpected places such as the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes. Breaking the World charts the difference between securitization and "Black insecurity." Linking securitization to mass incarceration and the militarization of policing, Mann contributes to Black feminist and abolitionist conversations that seek an end to institutional and structural violence. Breaking the World emphasizes that world-breaking is an important aspect of the Black radical imagination, showing that speculation is an essential response to the dangerous worlds of securitization"-- Provided by publisher.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory