Dorsch's View of Dystopian Environments

The two concepts that interest me the most about dystopias are the idea of thing-power and assemblages in these environments.  I also enjoy looking at dystopian environments where the host, or dominant, group controls all of life.  The human response, or reaction, to these dystopian environments intrigues me so much!  As I read and watch about dystopian environments, I constantly find myself wondering how I, personally, would react if I were the main character in the same situations.  Here’s a quick recap on what thing-power and assemblages are: Thing-power is when objects hold some sort of power and, therefore, have the ability to change society.  It is important to understand that anything can have power, including both organic (living) and inorganic (non-living) beings or objects. An assemblage is when beings or objects with thing-power come together and hold enough power to change reality.  The implication of an assemblage is, therefore, that...

What is New Materialism? Thinking about our reality through the lens of a new materialist allows us (as readers) to see humans as equal to everything else in nature.  Hence, the new materialist sees humans as not superior animals.  This concept is important to understand because it assumes that both organic (living) and inorganic (nonliving) beings or objects hold some sort of power within our society (Bennett, 2010).  And, this idea of giving all objects power is called thing-power.  According to Deleuzean theory, thing-power is when objects have the power to change outcomes as a result of their being and place in society (DeLanda, 2006).  And, all of these objects that have thing-power combine into an assemblage together that hold enough power to modify reality (DeLanda, 2006; Bennett, 2010).  These aspects of new materialism allow for dystopian environments to form.  New Materialism in Dystopian Environments Many dystopian environments ...

The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins and created into four movies under the direction of Francis Lawrence, provides one example of how leadership and control can be used for public manipulation in a dystopian environment.  Drawing from examples in The Hunger Games trilogy and subsequent movies as well as the second chapter of Popular Culture: A User's Guide by Imre Szeman and Susie O'Brien (2017), I argue that the merge of two ideologies, capitalism and productivity, has resulted in class stratification.  And, surveillance and enclosure of space by the entity/organization/individual in power are used in order maintain this social control.  Capitalism and Productivity  According to Szeman and O'Brien, it was during the "Industrial Revolution" that capitalism took hold of British economic interests (34).  Capitalism is an economic ideology geared toward the attainment of profit through competitive means.  In this system, it was the bourge...