Steampunk and Imperialism

A fair number of people have pointed to steampunk, decrying it as a genre that encourages and glorifies imperialism.

And equally vocal amount like to ignore the cultural oppression, limitation of rights and blatant racism that is part and parcel with Victorian era London, and a lot rarely think outside Victorian era London. (A lot also completely neglect the tech and history in favor of the fashion, but that’s not the point of this post.)
I actually hail from neither of those camps, but allow me to state a firm thesis before continuing on:

Steampunk is not an opportunity to justify, glorify or ignore imperialism and its ramifications.

However.

(The following post seeks to establish a firm middle ground about imperialism in steampunk, as well elements of racism and sexism derivative of the era. If you are an angry anti-imperialist, please use your brain before responding. If you are an apologist, likewise. So long post ahoy.… WE RIDE!)

A lot of people enjoy throwing the word imperialism around as a way to deride steampunk in general, or other steampunks specifically. For your knowledge-expanding pleasure, here is a long and descriptive definition of imperialism.

• “Imperialism: the urge of a nation to establish colonies and building empires for economic gain, prestige  and political advancement and military strategy. Also, the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation, especially by direct territorial acquisitions, or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.”

Imperialism is not jingoism – both go hand in hand, but jingoism is essentially nationalism taken to its belligerent extreme. Imperialists may have very jingoist attitudes, but the terms are not synonymous.
Now that we have a firm grasp of what imperialism actually is, it’s easy to distinguish whether someone is genuinely knowledgeable about the issue and calling out the glorification thereof – or if an angry person is just using big words.

People like to claim that steampunk is a genre that glorifies imperialism – not factually true.
Steampunk is a genre that glorifies steam-powered tech, and forgets all the reasoning and implications behind it.

Imperialism was rampant in the time period steampunks seem to favor, though dissenters will want to check their complaints – few people in the steampunk community actually justify or glorify imperialism in steampunk.

They just forget about it altogether.

I have yet to meet a steampunk (and I have met many) who says, “Yeah, it’s such a good thing that Britain completely screwed India over in its race for industry and political power,” or “I’m so glad that the Anglo-Saxons destroyed Native American culture and lifestyle in their search for resources!” Very few steampunks I’m met are truly racist and/or sexist. Few actively exclude other cultures or justify the oppression/exploitation thereof.

The problem is, few actively consider other cultures as well.

Victorian era London, time-traveling white people and Anglo-Saxon style clothes are predominant in steampunk. Of course, in the 1850s to the early 1900s, white people (Europe, US) were the big cheeses too. Rarely do steampunks stop to consider the social implications and changes that might or might not have occurred had steam power developed as a permanent power source.  Rarely do they venture outside of London White People World, 1886 – because the way imperialism took its course, white people came out on top. This adds fuel to the argument against steampunk and imperialism and the correlation between the two.

Steampunks also rarely mention racial/gender tensions, instead preferring to construct a rosy alternate history in which everyone is either white, or gets along regardless of race/gender/nationality/orientation, and every is happy and wears Anglo-Saxon 1880s clothes and flies airships together. They leave out the social issues, whether out of sheer niceness, a desire to avoid being politically incorrect, or a fear of being too radical. No one pokes at the imperialism dragon.

Guess what, steambabies. It ain’t as pretty as we think. Because we’re all human.

My problem is not historical accuracy – steampunk, technically, is not historically accurate. It’s historically alternate. But social and cultural accuracy – especially in a race and era rampant with nationalist and imperialist tendencies – is appallingly absent. 

Few consider how or why steam-powered tech – and the alternate history stemming from it – would have affected societal, cultural and international interactions. No one thinks about the reasons behind such advances in technology (whether the true switch to diesel power or the alternate reality where the modern world runs on steam power) such as militarism, arms races, nationalistic uprisings and revolts.
And few go that extra mile to the truly speculative fiction side of steampunk. No one writes about how modern reality has different societies, cultures, countries, because of the evolution of steam power. No one draws the Chinese as the dominant world power because in their alternate timeline, the UK and the US regressed while China went full steam ahead (haha) into technological advancements. No one considers what might be different aside from the technological and fashion standpoints. 

To me, the social and political differences and possibilities are just as fascinating. What if a literal political machine had been developed – the country is run by ideally programmed automatons? Any good history student can tell you Russia, Germany, France, Japan, the UK, Italy and the US wanted a slice of the world outside their own domains. What if a country other than these big guys had succeeded at just that? Who would be oppressed then? What heritage would be changed? Take advantage of the speculative side of steampunk. Don’t stick with what you know (Victorian London  people who have time travel and dirigibles) because everyone else knows that too.

We need to think about something other than white people driving airships.

Steampunk doesn’t glorify imperialism – it neglects it as a social issue altogether.
Even those who try to branch out from the UK often just take X country and apply a Victorian London mask to it. Many steampunks have this happy alternate history that doesn’t address the (non-existent) women’s rights, the blatant jingoism and racism, and the incredible poverty and corruption of the time period. Tech and fashion is a sole focus – why not include society, politics and socioeconomics in your speculation?
Points of contention like racism and sexism are absolute gold mines for that. Consider how these social issues might be amplified or undermined by an alternate history with the advancement of steam-tech. Consider what else you can do besides brown corsets, vests and top hats.

Steampunk is a speculative genre – it’s open for a lot of input and ideas. White people in 1880s London gets old pretty quick – so if the steampunk community wants to get and retain new blood, it needs to think outside the Victorian box.

To reiterate: Steampunk does not glorify imperialism. It puts imperialism, along with racism and sexism and corruption, into a nice little clockwork box that we shove in the corner and forget about because it’s full of things we think are ugly.

But think how much richer steampunk would be as a genre if it examined imperialism! Think what unique stories, wild alternate histories and incredibly thought-provoking timelines we could create if we looked these unpleasant items straight in the eye and said, “I see you!”

Instead of pretending it never happened, we could  look at how and why it happened – and how it could have been different because of steam power.