Reverse Colonization

Reviewed by: Reverse Colonization: Science Fiction, Imperial Fantasy, and Alt-Victimhood by David M. Higgins Suparno Banerjee Paranoid Victimhood in Anglo-American SF. David M. Higgins. Reverse Colonization: Science Fiction, Imperial Fantasy, and Alt-Victimhood. U of Iowa P, 2021. x+ 2346 pp. $39.95 pbk & ebk. Since the first decade of this century, critical conversations in Western academia have been examining sf's problematic relationships with European colonialism and imperialism. While such discussions were not unheard of [End Page 564] before, Ralph Pordzik's The Quest for Postcolonial Utopia (2001), Patricia Kerslake's Science Fiction and Empire (2007), and John Rieder's Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction (2008) provided the topic with much needed critical foregrounding. Despite such examinations, however, the linkages between sf and the contradictory self-positioning of the US as a champion of the free world while nevertheless acting as a neocolonial power remained comparatively underexplored. Perhaps it will not be wrong to say that since the end of the World War II, the formidable ideological mechanisms of American state and mass media have created a political and ethical hallucination of the US as a benevolent power fighting against global tyranny. This hallucination, given the right spin, can easily turn into a delusion of righteous victimhood. While "misinformation culture" linked to the rise of social media and the ideological polarization of the last half decade have fueled the discourses of reactionary white and male victimhood in American society, such tendencies to construct false narratives have been prevalent for much longer. As Slavoj Žižek noted in Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002) in the context of a proposed and discarded American government "Office of Strategic Influence"—one purpose of which was to spread "untruths" to bolster the American image in the world—"the idea of a government agency directly dedicated to lying was, in a way, only too honest—it had to be shelved precisely in order to enable the efficient promulgation of lies" (109). In other words, to serve its purpose effectively the Orwellian Ministry of Truth must remain unnamed. David M. Higgins's Reverse Colonization: Science Fiction, Imperial Fantasy, and Alt-Victimhood is an excellent book located primarily within the above context. Acknowledging the connections between sf and colonialism, Higgins concentrates on the trope of reverse colonization—the narratives in which authors from a Euro-American hegemonic position (usually white and male) imagine inhabiting the space of the subjugated. He argues that while such narratives of power reversal may demonstrate the dangers of colonial oppression, they may also fuel, and in many cases, produce dangerous fantasies of reverse oppression in the minds of the very people who perpetuated such acts on others. Higgins posits that in the current political culture of America, fear of "reverse colonization" has become a device for rallying anti-feminists, white supremacists, and far right reactionaries, whose paranoid distrust of objective reality leads them to the realm of "alternative facts" propagated openly by media ideologues, and often by mouthpieces of the state. Higgins relates this current scenario to 1960s sf narratives and claims that, despite not being willing promoters of such discourses, authors such as Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, and others often provided imaginative frameworks for the false victimhood espoused by the residents of today's alternative universe of persecuted white men. The book is organized into seven parts—an introduction, five thematic chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction, titled "Bizzarro Victimhood," sets up the framework for the later chapters. Building upon arguments of such scholars as Edward Said and John Rieder, Higgins foregrounds contemporary [End Page 565] trends in American fringe cultures as well as in sf communities by referring to such instances as "Puppygate," in which the conferring of prestigious sf awards to people of color was construed by a group of white supremacist writers and fans as reverse racial victimization. Higgins shows that such imaginary victimhood can also be seen in the bizarre logics of misogynists and the American Alt-Right communities in general, who see themselves as victims of various kinds. In other words, Higgins contends that any attempt at social justice and equal opportunity for people who have

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