Using Asian Futurism as a Pedagogical Framework: Opportunities with 3 Body Problem

Abstract

Speculative fiction offers an opportunity to explore the lives and perspectives of Asian and Asian Americans, who, despite their significant role in the United States, continued to be othered or ignored in the classroom. Netflix’s 3 Body Problem offers an opportunity to further develop an Asian Futurism perspective in sociology by weaving race, gender, relationships, science, history, aliens, religion, immigration, social status, and politics into its story. It presents a complex understanding of the past, present, and future of people across the Asian diaspora including themes of immigration, Chinese history, colonization, belonging and identity, religion, and so on and forces students to place Asian experiences at the center. Asian Futurism helps students contextualize many sociohistorical events and forces them to consider how the lack of familiarity with the history of the Asian diaspora both shapes their perceptions of Asian and Asian Americans and limits their conceptions of race, identity, intersectionality, law, social location, and ethnicity.