Abstract: Hemispherical Stacks collection (edited by Benjamin Bratton, Chen Qiufan, and Lukáš Likavčan) introduces a genre of scenario fictions, which sits at the intersection of future studies, systems thinking, and narrative art. Unlike traditional sci-fi, which often pivots around compelling characters confronting spectacular technologies or societal shifts, scenario fictions intentionally depersonalize the future. They shift the spotlight from individual psychology to vast systemic forces, exploring the intricate trophic cascades across technology, ecology, economics, and geopolitics. They are provocations, not prescriptions; they do not chart optimal futures but illuminate the counterintuitive logics embedded in today’s choices. Taking the notion of the Stack one step further, the scenarios encompass the emergent architecture of multipolar geopolitics based on the hemispheres of influence that segment and divide the planet into sovereign computational systems. These Hemispherical Stacks encompass energy and mineral sourcing, intercontinental logistics, cloud platforms, address systems, interface cultures, and different politics of the user.

Read the collection (with award-winning design by GIGA) on Antikythera x MIT Press platform:
https://hemstacks.antikythera....