Establishing Colonial Hegemony through Science: A Study of British India and Robinson’s Mars Trilogy

Abstract

Science and technology have always been used as powerful tools, and technologically advanced countries like the USA are consequently more powerful. In the modern context, power can be seen in the hands of transnationals or multinationals that control society through science. Looking at the historical use of science as power the example of the British is prominent as they used science and technology as effective instruments to establish and consolidate their control over India. For this purpose, they established scientific universities in India, constructed Railways in 1837 for easy and fast transportation of resources and introduced postal and telegraphic services. It is interesting that this strategy of using science and technology is found across the globe in the hands of those who want to establish their hegemony. The science fiction Mars Trilogy, which is very futuristic and imaginative, uses this motif. In the novel the transnationals, using science and technology, start shifting the inhabitants of Earth to Mars for the extraction of its resources and to establish hegemony over the new colony. Mars Trilogy is an excellent depiction of how colonial powers use science, and it contains an implicit warning for the future.