dystopianism
Grim future belief
Dystopianism is the tendency to imagine or depict society's future as bleak, oppressive, or catastrophic—the opposite of utopianism.
The term describes both a literary genre and a worldview: The novel's dystopianism reflects anxieties about surveillance technology.
Critics sometimes use it to characterize pessimistic political rhetoric: His speech was pure dystopianism, predicting collapse at every turn.
Dystopian tech-noir fiction
- post-apocalypticAfter global catastrophe
- OrwellianEvoking oppressive surveillance states
- KafkaesqueOppressively absurd and labyrinthine
- worldbuildingConstructing imaginary universes for fiction
cli-fi · biopunk · solarpunk · antiutopia · satire · allegory · 1984
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- authoritarianFavoring absolute control
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
dictatorship · surveillance · propaganda · coercion · subjugation · persecution · autocracy · indoctrination
Bleak and abandoned
- grimHarsh and foreboding
- hopelessBeyond possibility of success
- pessimisticExpecting negative outcomes
- despairTotal absence of hope
nihilistic · apocalyptic · forlorn · dismal · dreary · bleak · somber · dread
Systematic observation of subjects
- automationSelf-operating system design
- biotechnologyEngineering using living systems
- cyberneticsCommunication and control science
- transhumanismTech-augmented evolution philosophy
technocracy · biometrics · implants · cloning · megacorporation · dehumanization · singularity
cyberpunk
Dystopian tech-noir fiction
- post-apocalypticAfter global catastrophe
- OrwellianEvoking oppressive surveillance states
- KafkaesqueOppressively absurd and labyrinthine
worldbuilding · cli-fi · biopunk · solarpunk · antiutopia · satire · allegory · 1984
totalitarian
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- authoritarianFavoring absolute control
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
censorship · dictatorship · surveillance · propaganda · coercion · subjugation · persecution · autocracy · indoctrination · enslavement
desolate
Bleak and abandoned
- grimHarsh and foreboding
- hopelessBeyond possibility of success
- pessimisticExpecting negative outcomes
despair · nihilistic · apocalyptic · forlorn · dismal · dreary · bleak · somber · dread · dehumanization
surveillance
Systematic observation of subjects
- automationSelf-operating system design
- biotechnologyEngineering using living systems
- cyberneticsCommunication and control science
transhumanism · technocracy · biometrics · implants · cloning · megacorporation · dehumanization · singularity
dystopianismutopianism
Faith in perfect systems
techno-utopianism · optimism · idealism · progressivism · hopefulness
dystopian, utopia, utopian, dystopia, dysphoria, dysphoric, anti-utopia, dystopic, dystopically