The Political Economy of Dune - by Mark Koyama

My most downloaded academic paper on SSRN is a yet to be published book chapter on the political economy of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Do read it here. As Dune Part II is now on our screens (I write this just before going to see it), I thought it was worth revisiting my thoughts on the social science underlying Herbert’s fictional universe. All quotes are from my paper unless otherwise noted. We should first ask: do fictional universes need a political economy that makes sense? Absolutely not. But to have lasting value, I think it helps that they at least ask important political economy questions. Thanks for reading How the World Became Rich! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. An episode of the Rest is History, Romans in Space: Star Wars, Dune and Beyond touch on these issues. Holland and Sandbrook note that the original Star Wars trilogy were given a patina of sophistication and historical depth by references to the “old republic” and the “senate”. Star Wars didn’

My most downloaded academic paper on SSRN is a yet to be published book chapter on the political economy of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Do read it here. As Dune Part II is now on our screens (I write this just before going to see it), I thought it was worth revisiting my thoughts on the social science underlying Herbert’s fictional universe. All quotes are from my paper unless otherwise noted. We should first ask: do fictional universes need a political economy that makes sense? Absolutely not. But to have lasting value, I think it helps that they at least ask important political economy questions.