The Radical Futurity of Dune: Javier Sethness-Castro

In this episode of Conversations on Anarres, we speak with author Javier Sethness Castro about his new review of Dune II (2024). Sethness Castro argues that the Frank Herbert's vision of humanity, as laid out in the novels, is one of a multicultural, multiracial, and religiously pluralistic human race spread out among the stars. The persistence of Islam, and of Muslim culture and traditions, is key to this vision.

However, Sethness Castro believes that Dune II downplays and erases this key element from the universe, limiting the radical possibilities of the film. We also talk about how the Dune universe can help us envision anti-imperialist politics in our world today and understand events in the Middle East.

You can read his article "Dune Part Two: A Film of Anti-Muslim Erasure" here.