How Star Wars can help today’s young rebels bring down empire, defeat the dark side, and save the future - Welcome to the Rebellion explores the radical political roots of Star Wars and shows how the saga continues to inspire a new generation of activists and campaigners today.
What does it mean that our most popular modern myth is a radical left story about fighting corporate authoritarianism? From its roots in the 1960s new left, Star Wars still speaks to millions of people today. By design, the saga mirrors our own time and politics. A real empire of corporate domination has arisen within weakened and corrupted republics. Now it threatens our existence on a planetary scale.
But, the popularity of Star Wars also suggests that if we tell the right stories, we can welcome many more people to fight for a better world...
There’s also a slideshow summary of the book here, and you can read a series of blog posts based on the main arguments in the book starting here.
Interview with the author Michael Harris on THIS IS REVOLUTION podcast, featuring Chris Cutrone: "Why The Left Needs Grand Narratives" (SoundCloud) (YouTube)
This could use some editing for pacing and structure. I kind of like the casual feel to it, but I'll be honest I got bored before it even got started.
I listened to the audiobook and it felt bogged down at times. But the argument for claiming and using fictional stories to promote leftist ideas is interesting, especially framed around such a large pop culture phenomenon.
The blog posts condense Harris' arguments pretty well. They joke around a lot in the TIR interview, which is how I was introduced to the book.