The Three-Body Problem and the Anthropocene

Abstract

Abstract The so-called Anthropocene is a new epoch characterized by deep biophysical changes that threaten the continuity of life on Earth for millions of species, including humans. This instability scenario challenges International Relations (IR) to rethink itself. As a narrative of our fears and imaginative efforts about the future, science fiction provides thought experiments on potential and indeterminate paths for humanity. In ‘The Problem of 3 Bodies’ trilogy, Cixin Liu builds a dystopian reality, suggesting insights into the Anthropocene. Through this narrative, we can explore the limits of positivist epistemology, challenge the conventional understanding of the international system as a closed anarchical structure, and reflect on some of the consequences of anthropocentrism. This article aims to illustrate how SciFi can be a portal to reflect on a planet full of instabilities by drawing a parallel between Liu’s trilogy and the impacts of the Anthropocene in IR. Thus, we dialogue with dilemmas and solutions designed by the author to speculate about time, technology, institutions, the indeterminacy of the future, and the fragility of human existence, themes still underexplored in International Relations studies but common in the Anthropocene scholarship. However, the solutions envisaged by Liu bet on scientific-technological development, leaving aside relevant issues such as inequalities, injustices, and other ways of knowing.

Keywords

• Anthropocene
• International Relations
• science fiction
• Global South
• The Three-Body Problem