Stay Alive: Surviving Capitalism’s Coming Hunger Games (2021)

Read the preface from Stay Alive for free here.

“Very interesting! An insightful look at how much Collins' series highlights the have-nots and their plight in our modern society. Harris skillfully explores the series' criticisms of virulent, frivolous capitalism, propaganda, torture, anarchy, deregulation, hypocrisy, and of course the nature of revolution. …Serious fans will delight in the symbolism and deep insights revealed here. If you think you understand The Hunger Games, this book will blow your mind with how much is lurking under the surface.”

- Valerie Estelle Frankel, author of Katniss the Cattail and The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen

“Michael Harris has done something important – he has written a book that takes very seriously the form and content of The Hunger Games, a book trilogy and four movies based on it, and the responses of audiences to them. And then he enhances readers’ and viewers’ experiences by way of an appreciation of relevant history, science and political theory. …[I]n the footsteps of CLR James in American Civilization, he insists that popularity is the reason to pay close attention. …I also realized that I was reading a distinct work of political literature – with its own drama and language. At the end, the book gave me a whole set of new reasons to admire Katniss Everdeen – a rebel girl if we’ve ever known one.”

- John Garvey, editor, Insurgent Notes journal

“In Stay Alive, Michael Harris demonstrates how neoliberal capitalism is conspiring to create a real-life dystopia where the odds only ever favor the elite. Using The Hunger Games to illuminate a series of social forces that are behind problems such as class inequality and climate change, Harris shows how a growing number of young people are rejecting their role in a game the powerful have constructed for them. Instead, by taking collective action, they are sparking a rebellion against systemic oppression and social injustice. This timely book offers readers hope that the problems that confront contemporary society are not insurmountable provided people are willing to work together to address them.”

- Séan P. Connors, Associate Professor, English Education, University of Arkansas

“Engaging and rewarding, Michael Harris’ new study of the Hunger Games ...offers a multi-layered analysis of Suzanne Collins’s enduring phenomena – from the significance of child abuse and juvenile alienation, and from the series’ attack against neoliberalism/capitalism, to its embrace of anarchism. In doing so, Harris makes a compelling contribution to the study of the Hunger Games... His efforts focus on both the personal and the political in the context of characters and readers, addressing, among other issues of interest, why the Mockingjay salute endures ...In Harris’ words, the legacy of the Hunger Games finds affirmation in what he aptly characterizes as The Dandelion Revolution.”

- Bill Clemente, Emeritus Professor of English, Peru State College, Nebraska

“Michael Harris is one of my favorite academic authors. He’s mastered the art of using pop culture to not only expose capitalism's failures, but he has the ability to weave in a message of hope as well.”

- Jason Myles, This is Revolution podcast

Stay Alive reveals the hidden revolution at the heart of The Hunger Games and what it means for our age of defiant youth-led revolt.

When the series began in 2008, many commentators lumped it in with other young adult genre fiction. But The Hunger Games was always more political.

It’s since become the defining story for a generation that’s grown up with economic crisis and never ending war. An uber-rich ruling class gorge themselves in their gleaming high-tech Capitol, while working people are left behind to survive in exploited districts. Revolution is a forgotten hope kept at bay by brutal policing, aching poverty, and rigid class segregation.

It’s only become more relevant since then. Climate crisis, environmental destruction, rampant inequality, economic exploitation, increasing authoritarianism, state surveillance, media misinformation, violence and cruelty as TV spectacle… Suzanne Collins’ dark vision is rapidly becoming our real future.

The Hunger Games generation are the tributes thrown into an arena of increasingly brutal competition from which it seems like there’s no escape, their futures sacrificed for a greedy, corrupt elder elite. No wonder the series still resonates with anxious and alienated young people today.

Stay Alive uses the story to describe our age of extreme inequalities and climate collapse, in which elites use state power, compliant media, and violent spectacle to pacify their populations. The elite endgame is leading us towards our own version of Panem, a authoritarian state order we’ll call Capitolism. The world is catching fire. But elites have no intention of burning with us.

Yet The Hunger Games also points to the possibility of a very different politics of survival in the face of collapse: anti-authoritarian, and based on empathy, cooperation, mutual support, and a new radical solidarity. A different kind of revolution, one, like the heroine of the series, led by generation that doesn’t want to be rebels but will be forced to be in order to survive.

Alongside Suzanne Collins’ prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and forthcoming film adaptation, Stay Alive shows how the real hunger games are just beginning. The odds are not in our favor, but we can find a way to be more than just a piece in their games.

We need to return to Panem.

Stay Alive is published in April/May 2021 by Zero Books and can be pre-ordered from the following places now: