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Topic · Philosophy

Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction

Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction is a research topic within Philosophy. Science Explorer counts 5k research works in it since 1951. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the themes of utopia and dystopia in science fiction, with a focus on Afrofuturism, environmentalism, post-apocalyptic scenarios, feminism, Marxism, and colonialism. It delves into the concept of hope within imagined future societies and examines the interplay between utopian ideals and dystopian realities.

  • Utopia
  • Dystopia
  • Science Fiction
  • Afrofuturism
  • Environmentalism
  • Post-Apocalyptic
  • Feminism
  • Marxism
  • Colonialism
  • Hope
Research works
5k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
510
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+37%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
31% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction

Which countries lead Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research?

By volume, the United States and India publish the most (357 and 165 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 357 works
  2. 2 India 165 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 141 works
  4. 4 China 85 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 83 works
  6. 6 Spain 80 works
  7. 7 Germany 71 works
  8. 8 France 68 works
  9. 9 Brazil 58 works
  10. 10 Canada 49 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 30.8%India: 14.3%United Kingdom: 12.2%China: 7.4%6 others listed: 35.3%31%largest
United States357 · 30.8%India165 · 14.3%United Kingdom141 · 12.2%China85 · 7.4%6 others listed408 · 35.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research, followed by Film Independent and City University of New York.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 13 works
  2. 2 Film IndependentUnited States 10 works
  3. 3 City University of New YorkUnited States 9 works
  4. 4 Universidad de ZaragozaSpain 9 works
  5. 5 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 8 works
  6. 6 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 7 works
  7. 7 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 6 works
  8. 8 Deakin UniversityAustralia 6 works
  9. 9 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 6 works
  10. 10 The University of MelbourneAustralia 6 works

Who are the leading researchers in Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction include James E. Gunn and David Hume.

  1. 1 James E. Gunn United States 136k citations
  2. 2 David Hume Australia 107k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction?

The most cited paper in Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction is "Time, Narrative and History" (SUSAN COTTS WATKINS, 2020), with 1,177 citations. Next come "Darwin's Plots: Evolutionary Narrative in Darwin, George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Fiction" (1,078) and "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late 20th Century" (470).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Time, Narrative and History SUSAN COTTS WATKINS · Palgrave studies in contemporary women's writing Book chapter 2020 1,177
2 Darwin's Plots: Evolutionary Narrative in Darwin, George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Fiction Gillian Beer · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) Open access 1983 1,078
3 A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late 20th Century Donna Haraway Book chapter 23 Nov 2007 470
4 Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination Darren Jorgensen · Utopian Studies Oct 2015 346
5 Unravelling Foucault’s ‘different spaces’ Peter W. Johnson · History of the Human Sciences 25 Oct 2006 306
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research done?

The largest centres of Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Paris (France) and Los Angeles (United States).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 25 works
  2. 2 New YorkUnited States 20 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 19 works
  4. 4 Los AngelesUnited States 19 works
  5. 5 BeijingChina 18 works
  6. 6 AnkaraTürkiye 18 works
  7. 7 IstanbulTürkiye 14 works
  8. 8 TorontoCanada 14 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 14 works
  10. 10 TashkentUzbekistan 11 works
See Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction on the map

Where is the best place to study Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction?

Among universities, judged by research, Universidad de Zaragoza and City University of New York score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Universidad de ZaragozaSpain 54.011.7%12.8×8 -4.1%
2City University of New YorkUnited States 40.011.2%11.1×9 +66.0%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction, country by country

Is Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 37% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0069% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction0.0083% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction10.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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