“There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?”
Given publishing timescales, Welcome to the Rebellion, my book about what today’s young rebels can learn from our favourite fictional fighters against Empire, was written well before the release of The Rise of Skywalker. As a study of how Star Wars reflects contemporary politics and vice versa, it doesn’t try to predict the conclusion to the Skywalker saga. Rather, what it does anticipate is the significance and prospects of youth-led movements like Black Lives Matter, the climate justice movement, the Never Again activists for gun control and many more, and how by reclaiming the rebel story these movements could represent a new resistance to empire in our own world. Hence the subtitle of a new hope in radical politics, and despite being written well before the events of this summer, what I also hope is a timely book to read right now.
This focus is one reason why I wasn’t looking for The Rise of Skywalker to somehow crown the saga. I’d already got what I wanted from Star Wars many years before, including politically. As well as being fun and thrilling and imaginative, the films had given me and many millions of people a story of heroism and hope in response to authoritarianism and an ideology of selfish acquisition. Three main things made me think that the politics of Star Wars were still relevant, perhaps more than ever, and led me to write the book.
The first of these is the rise of empire. George Lucas was once asked what one thing he hoped fans understood about his saga. He replied, “I only hope that those who have seen Star Wars recognize the Emperor when they see him.” In its own fantastical way, his story might have helped a mass audience to see what authoritarianism is and how it seizes power – its manipulations, fear-mongering, violence, annihilation of political opponents, its rampant self-interest and corrosive corruption.
This was most prominent in the prequel trilogy, which depicted the schemes of Senator Palpatine and the eventual revelation of his evil agenda. In turn this harks back to the concerns Lucas shared with his protesting peers about the American republic in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly its corruption by militarism and imperialism. One reason for the recent critical re-evaluation of the prequels has been the relevance of these themes once again. And while the sequel trilogy has been criticised for being less politically, or if you prefer, thematically, coherent than their predecessors, one respect in which they did resonate is in reflecting the resurgence of authoritarian populism in the form of the First Order (as The Rise of Skywalker reveals, they subsequently ally with the Final Order, an armada built by Palpatine, who has been secretly controlling the Order via his puppet ruler Snoke).
J. J. Abrams, the director of the first and last of the sequels, said the concept for the First Order “came out of conversations about what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again.” In our world, would-be emperors stoke popular anger and turn it into rage to distract and disorientate people, blame the marginalized and vulnerable, erode political liberties and entrench themselves in power. They turn politics to the dark side. We’re living in a version of the prequels – but also perhaps the rise of the resistance, as we’ll note in a moment.
The second theme for the continued relevance of the politics of Star Wars is recognition, the moment when we see things for how they are, realise what empire is, and begin to accept what our role needs to be in resisting it. As I write in the book:
“Awakening is about taking responsibility, a key theme in Star Wars. Luke moves from “I can’t get involved” hopelessness to a heroic maturity. Han Solo moves from “I’m only in it for the money” cynicism to helping his comrades. All of the main characters in A New Hope make a journey from resignation to rebellion: princess to rebel leader, farm boy to fighter pilot, smuggler to freedom fighter, aged hermit to militant martyr. The necessity of resistance and the slim possibility of victory bring them to life; it is life. …And here is where we need to diverge from fantasy and science fiction, since history teaches us that defeating the system is not just about throwing one Emperor off a balcony into a canyon of steel…”
Of course, it turns out in The Rise of Skywalker that this wasn’t the end of the Emperor either, but anyway… Some people bitterly reject the idea that it’s political at all, but it’s this awakening that represents, I think, the rebel heart of Star Wars:
“As a fantasy, it connects with what is arguably the most real thing of all, even if we try to ignore it: the need to stand against domination and to fight for a better world. It’s about how we find ourselves when we’re confronted by what we must face down and defeat. That’s the way we become the heroes of our lives, by being part of something much bigger, and sometimes much scarier. It’s how we find camaraderie and fellowship and love as well. The force in ourselves, and the hope in each other.”
The third theme, consequently, is the necessity of rebellion. As I write:
“The real subversiveness of Star Wars lies in dramatizing for a mass audience how a nation whose defining myths are anti-imperialism, freedom and self-determination is corrupted into becoming what it criticized – and further, how the only response is revolution.”
Star Wars has never really been interested in the mechanics of revolution, or how for example revolutions can be corrupted. Instead, as noted, its focus is the call to action and the hero’s journey to fighting (space) fascism. That’s why in the book I’ve emphasized the 1960s new left roots of George Lucas’ vision, of a small band of overmatched rebels struggling against authoritarianism, corruption, brutality and militarism, and how despite setbacks and defeats, you can see the same driving hope and humanity in today’s protest movements. This is at the heart of the book, and, I think, the continuing relevance of the politics of the saga:
“Rebellion is proliferating. Trump and his fellow authoritarians are creating new political activists, ordinary people who for the first time find themselves protesting, participating, organizing, running for office, making connections. This has been happening for some time. Naturally, it ebbs and flows… [but now] a whole series of books couldn’t do justice to all of the individuals, groups, communities and campaigns that are rising up. The new new left, the young left (does it matter whether we label them as “the left” or not?) aren’t listening to the pessimism and passivity of some of their elders. Nor do they fall for the lies of empire. To paraphrase Emma González, one of the leaders of the #NeverAgain movement, this is a “no BS” generation of activists and campaigners.”
There are many ways to connect these diverse movements: as mass mobilizations against violence and oppression, in their recognition of the systemic nature of what we’re up against and by their refusal to accept so-called pragmatism and political realities. They’re also about freedom, real freedom – from the exploitation of land and environment, police brutality and institutional injustice, to being afraid at school and the coming climate chaos. Just like our favourite fictional rebellion, they fight for freedom because doing so is necessary for survival.
Storytelling is crucial to these struggles, which is why Welcome to the Rebellion draws on arguably our most popular modern myth. In our world, authoritarianism now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since its defeat at the end of the Second World War. But authoritarianism in its various forms is also, in one sense, a story, one that needs to be fought with better stories. Authoritarians exploit the universal desire to be part of a meaningful quest. The answer to authoritarianism is more democracy, returning prosperity, security and power to ordinary people, and fundamentally, engaging millions of people in a collective meaningful quest, a rebellion that restores peace, justice and real security to the world:
“As the stories told by elites crumble, these movements are contesting the old common sense and creating new ones. Telling a different story is vital to winning change and recruiting new rebels. The previous forms of solidarity on the left, most obviously trade unions, have been significantly eroded, deliberately so by the forces of the right. In the era of globalization, the absence of structures of solidarity leaves those left out susceptible to the exclusionary identities and false solidarity of right-wing populist appeals, or even worse. We need to build a better, more appealing common identity for change. We need a rebel alliance.”
To some, this might sound fantastical. But then, as this summer has shown, in dark times there are suddenly moments when resistance breaks out, empire is challenged, and new hope springs forth. There has been an awakening, and we’ve all felt it.
Welcome to the Rebellion is out now, in paperback, e-book and audiobook.