Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism

‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

The Production of Space

A critique of postcolonial reason: Toward a history of the vanishing present

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Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest

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Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions

This dissertation offers a spatially attuned reading protocol to assist scholars engaging twenty-first century postcolonial science fiction. “Hacking the Future” first explores the boom in postcolonial SF since 2004, considering the instigations of digital publishing, community-building platforms, and the event RaceFail09. It then examines how spatial studies, particularly the concept of Edward Soja’s thirdspace, the geocriticical lens of Bertrand Westphal, and the political attentiveness of Doreen Massey, synchronize with the worldbuilding reading practices proposed by SF theorists Darko Suvin and Samuel Delany. “Hacking the Future” activates this newly spatialized reading practice in the arenas of inquiry highlighted by postcolonial studies to examine how physical, conceptual, and lived spaces function as types of critical revision.

Science fiction (SF) is a speculative genre capable of reaching ‘escape velocity’ from Earth and its histories of violence. Yet, when writing in this imaginative genre, contemporary postcolonial SF authors overwhelmingly produce Earthside stories. Utilizing this dissertation’s proposed combinative protocol allows us to access the interventions and innovations of this new subgenre of writing.

By creating SF, postcolonial writers reclaim their right to not only produce genre fiction, but imagine alternative futures for previously colonized people. ”Hacking the Future” contends that by challenging the ethnographic stare of traditional SF, SF authors of the Global South productively shift away from underlying ideologies of the inferior “Other.” Through close examination of Octavia E. Butler’s Dawn and “Amnesty,” Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Them Ships,” Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon, and Samit Basu’s Turbulence, this dissertation demonstrates how postcolonial SF spatially revises societal hierarchies, corrupt politics, the Futures Industry, “third contact” narratives between sections of human society, Afropessimism, and citizenship scales. As an additional contribution to the archive surrounding postcolonial SF, “Hacking the Future” includes personal interviews with postcolonial SF writers Samit Basu, Lauren Beukes, Nalo Hopkinson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Vandana Singh, and SF book cover illustrator Joey Hi-Fi. Using these interviews as critical sources encourages interdisciplinary considerations that bridge creative-critical divides. This project argues that these writers use Earth-spaces to “hack” into constructions of the future, establishing postcolonial SF as a type of literary activism.

Hacking the Future: The Space and Place of Earth in Postcolonial Science Fiction

Objective: The recent United States Government Accountability Office report highlights the need for improved data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV)–related acquired brain injury (ABI) to help direct Health & Human Services public efforts. This article identifies the prevalence and risk factors for IPV-related ABI among survivors of IPV at a Justice Center in New York. Setting: Community Justice Center. Participants: Forty survivors of IPV, aged 17 to 73 years (median 32, interquartile range: 25.25, 42) were assessed within 60 days of sustaining physical violence. Design: Retrospective chart review. Main Measures: The HELPS and the Danger Assessment—Revised were used at the initial Center visit. Results: Of the 40 physical IPV survivors screened, all (100%) reported a prior history of partner-induced ABI within the past 60 days. Thirty-seven (92.5%) survivors also reported sustaining at least 1 potential hypoxic brain injury from strangulation. However, only 16 (40%) survivors screened positive on the HELPS for a history of IPV-related mild traumatic brain injury. Females (95%) and individuals with low income (67.5%) largely comprised our sample. Compared with the County's average, the proportion of African Americans/Blacks and refugees was 227% higher (42.5% vs 13%) and 650% higher (7.5% vs 1.09%), respectively. Refugee status (P = .017) also correlated with number of previous ABIs. On an exploratory binary logistic regression with stepwise selection, only balance difficulties (P = .023) and difficulty concentrating/remembering (P = .009) predicted a positive screen for mild traumatic brain injury. Conclusions: Consistent with previous findings, our data indicate a high prevalence of IPV-related ABI among visitors to a New York Justice Center. An overrepresentation of African Americans/Blacks and refugees in our sample relative to the region signified a higher prevalence of IPV in these populations and warrants a provision of more trauma-informed ABI resources to these groups/communities. Intimate partner violence survivors visiting Justice Centers should be screened for motor/neurocognitive symptoms suggestive of mild traumatic brain injury. Further research to identify the prevalence and risk factors of IPV-related ABI statewide and nationwide is urgently needed to improve resource allocation and clinical management.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Physical Violence–Related Acquired Brain Injury Among Visitors to Justice Center in New York

This qualitative study explores heterosexual teen girls' perceptions of parental support in abusive dating relationships during high school. Teen girls are at high risk for dating violence. Symbolic interaction theory asserts that meaning is assigned through our interactions, and these assigned meanings then influence our behavior. Findings demonstrate that teen girls assign meaning to dating and abuse, which is often reflective of traditional gender stereotypes, through their interactions with their boyfriends. However, due to the life course, parents of teens are in a unique position to provide different meanings that foster healthier dating relationships. Analysis of semistructured retrospective interviews found that, like adults, teen victims perceived parents' support to be inconsistent. Parents who provided support, such as ensuring safety, giving advice, and involving other professionals, played an instrumental role in helping teen girls end abusive dating relationships. Social workers should engage parents, schools, and peers in prevention education efforts that challenge gender norms and provide training on how to effectively intervene and provide support to teens that are experiencing abuse in their dating relationships.

Jessica FitzPatrick

Papers

Hacking the Future: The Space and Place of Earth in Postcolonial Science Fiction

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Physical Violence–Related Acquired Brain Injury Among Visitors to Justice Center in New York

Perceived Parental Support in Teen Dating Violence.