A question was asked on a French-speaking Discord server I'm on: Is there any #ScienceFiction work that specifically explores in details fictional alternative economic systems?
@Hypolite Petovan Not sure what alternative to what is desired but every Sci-Fi universe has its own economy/currency system and some are unique in terms of being alternative to our own economies.
In the series/movies universes, most have some form of currency or token-based economy, and in some cases trade/barter, even in Star Trek where they supposedly have moved beyond materialism but need to work with other races. Babylon 5 was closer to capitalism as we knew it in the 90's with a forecast of today's capitalism woes. BSG, Farscape, and others are somewhere in between or similar to capitalism where various economy systems are encountered. Fantasy genres lean towards trade and barter systems whereas combat genres lean on extremes communism/marxism to free enterprise systems similar to what we now as capitalism in the US today.
There are some books exploring different economy systems: Contract economy in Anne Bishop's Written in Red wh... show more
@Hypolite Petovan Not sure what alternative to what is desired but every Sci-Fi universe has its own economy/currency system and some are unique in terms of being alternative to our own economies.
In the series/movies universes, most have some form of currency or token-based economy, and in some cases trade/barter, even in Star Trek where they supposedly have moved beyond materialism but need to work with other races. Babylon 5 was closer to capitalism as we knew it in the 90's with a forecast of today's capitalism woes. BSG, Farscape, and others are somewhere in between or similar to capitalism where various economy systems are encountered. Fantasy genres lean towards trade and barter systems whereas combat genres lean on extremes communism/marxism to free enterprise systems similar to what we now as capitalism in the US today.
There are some books exploring different economy systems: Contract economy in Anne Bishop's Written in Red where aliens lease land in exchange for goods and have the ability to enforce those contracts which seems similar to smart contract blockchain concepts but with an enforcement factor. Contribution/Status economy in Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky which seems similar to Incan practices. In that professed utopian society of spiders, females are nobility and pool resources when needed among themselves. Children are cared for until they reach the age they can contribute/work and males either do work to support communities or are suitors courting females. Fantasy books often have trade or barter style economies or even clan-based status where a supply chain may be valued like cattle, horses, or water.
So the counter-question becomes.. what is meant by alternative?
@Shelenn Ayres Thank you for the elaborate answer! The question arose because in many popular science-fiction universes (including Star Wars, Asimov and Dune), either the economic system is eluded (often for a generic market economy similar to ours), or the little we learn about it generates more questions about its actual viability than it answers.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Red/Green/Blue Mars series introduces a collective with a gift economy, but they're not central.
Daniel Abraham's Dragon and the Coin series (outstanding) revolves around bankers, but throughout the events of the book they develop fairly standard economic ideas of fiat currency and exchange rates. Quite well done, though.
Dave Duncan's Reluctant Swordsman series has a bit about how trade works in a non-literate society that can't sign contracts.
Shelenn Ayres
•In the series/movies universes, most have some form of currency or token-based economy, and in some cases trade/barter, even in Star Trek where they supposedly have moved beyond materialism but need to work with other races. Babylon 5 was closer to capitalism as we knew it in the 90's with a forecast of today's capitalism woes. BSG, Farscape, and others are somewhere in between or similar to capitalism where various economy systems are encountered. Fantasy genres lean towards trade and barter systems whereas combat genres lean on extremes communism/marxism to free enterprise systems similar to what we now as capitalism in the US today.
There are some books exploring different economy systems: Contract economy in Anne Bishop's Written in Red wh... show more
In the series/movies universes, most have some form of currency or token-based economy, and in some cases trade/barter, even in Star Trek where they supposedly have moved beyond materialism but need to work with other races. Babylon 5 was closer to capitalism as we knew it in the 90's with a forecast of today's capitalism woes. BSG, Farscape, and others are somewhere in between or similar to capitalism where various economy systems are encountered. Fantasy genres lean towards trade and barter systems whereas combat genres lean on extremes communism/marxism to free enterprise systems similar to what we now as capitalism in the US today.
There are some books exploring different economy systems: Contract economy in Anne Bishop's Written in Red where aliens lease land in exchange for goods and have the ability to enforce those contracts which seems similar to smart contract blockchain concepts but with an enforcement factor. Contribution/Status economy in Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky which seems similar to Incan practices. In that professed utopian society of spiders, females are nobility and pool resources when needed among themselves. Children are cared for until they reach the age they can contribute/work and males either do work to support communities or are suitors courting females. Fantasy books often have trade or barter style economies or even clan-based status where a supply chain may be valued like cattle, horses, or water.
So the counter-question becomes.. what is meant by alternative?
Hypolite Petovan
•Shelenn Ayres likes this.
Ergative Absolutive
•Daniel Abraham's Dragon and the Coin series (outstanding) revolves around bankers, but throughout the events of the book they develop fairly standard economic ideas of fiat currency and exchange rates. Quite well done, though.
Dave Duncan's Reluctant Swordsman series has a bit about how trade works in a non-literate society that can't sign contracts.
Hypolite Petovan likes this.