Speculative Non-Fiction is a hybrid literary genre that blends elements of speculation—typically associated with science fiction and futurist thinking—with the grounded, fact-based approach of traditional non-fiction. It explores real-world issues, often incorporating speculative scenarios or imaginative extensions of current trends to explore possible futures or alternative realities. The genre challenges traditional boundaries between what is and what could be, using imaginative yet plausible narratives to explore complex social, political, ecological, and technological themes. # Key aspects of Speculative Non-Fiction: ### 1. **Rooted in Reality** - Unlike speculative fiction, which can be entirely fictional, speculative non-fiction starts from a foundation of real-world facts, research, and current events. The "non-fiction" aspect means that the work is based on or inspired by existing knowledge or realities, though it may extend them into speculative ideas. ### 2. **Explores Future Possibilities** - It often takes an extrapolative approach, imagining how present-day technologies, social dynamics, political structures, or environmental challenges might evolve. For instance, how might climate change reshape geopolitics, or what could be the social implications of an Autotrophic economy? ### 3. **Raises Critical Questions** - Speculative non-fiction invites readers to think about the present by imagining the future. By pushing current trends to their logical or even illogical extremes, it sheds light on what could happen if we continue down certain paths, often warning about consequences or envisioning the critical paths towards more positive outcomes. ### 4. **Examples in Writing and Media** - Works of speculative non-fiction might include think pieces, essays, or future-historical accounts that explore future trends. Documentaries and documents that present future scenarios based on current science, such as climate change narratives that imagine life in a warming world, or academic works that envision post-capitalist societies, also fit into this genre. ### 5. **Ties to Speculative Design and Critical Theory** - The concept of speculative non-fiction has ties to speculative design and critical theory, where designers or thinkers create artifacts, systems, or stories not to predict the future but to provoke discussion about current issues by imagining adjacent possibilities. ### 6. **Notable Themes** - **Environmental crisis**: Imagining the social and ecological impacts of climate change and resource depletion. - **Technological advances**: Exploring how AI, biotech, or space colonization could shape society. - **Political futures**: What would happen in the rise or fall of certain governance structures? - **Societal shifts**: How will demographic changes, migrations, or cultural shifts influence the world? ### 7. **Authors and Works** - While the genre isn’t always explicitly labeled as “speculative non-fiction,” works that fit the description can be found in the writings of **Naomi Klein** (e.g., *This Changes Everything*), **Kim Stanley Robinson** (known for his climate-focused speculative fiction with heavy factual basis), or **Yuval Noah Harari** (*Sapiens*, *Homo Deus*), where speculative extensions of historical and present trends are explored. In summary, speculative non-fiction blends factual investigation with imaginative foresight, using plausible scenarios to interrogate the present and future in a way that encourages reflection and action on real-world issues.