Editing Kim Stanley Robinson (section)

==Major themes==
===Nature and culture===
[[Sheldon Brown (artist)|Sheldon Brown]] described Robinson's novels as ways to explore how nature and culture continuously reformulate one another; ''[[Three Californias Trilogy]]'' as California in the future; Washington DC undergoing the impact of climate change in the ''Science in the Capital'' series; or Mars as a stand-in for Earth in the ''Mars'' trilogy to think about re-engineering on a global scale, both social and natural conditions.<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Brown|first1 = Sheldon|title = The Literary Imagination with Jonathan Lethem and Kim Stanley Robinson|url = http://www.uctv.tv/shows/The-Literary-Imagination-with-Jonathan-Lethem-and-Kim-Stanley-Robinson-24943|website = UCTV|publisher = University of California Television|access-date = September 5, 2015|time = 5:00|date = July 1, 2013}}</ref>

===Ecological sustainability===
Virtually all of Robinson's novels have an ecological component; sustainability is one of his primary themes (a strong contender for the primary theme would be the nature of a plausible utopia). The ''Orange County'' trilogy is about the way in which the technological intersects with the natural, highlighting the importance of keeping the two in balance. In the ''Mars'' trilogy, one of the principal divisions among the population of Mars is based on dissenting views on [[terraforming]]. Colonists debate whether or not the barren Martian landscape has a similar ecological or spiritual value when compared with a living ecosphere like Earth's. ''[[Forty Signs of Rain]]'' has an entirely ecological thrust, taking [[global warming]] as its principal subject.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

===Economic and social justice===
[[File:Kim stanley robinson-bookfair.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Author speaking at the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair.|Kim Stanley Robinson speaking at the [[Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair]] on the social themes of his work]]

Robinson's work often explores alternatives to modern [[capitalism]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Keefe |first1=Derrick |title=Imagining the End of Capitalism With Kim Stanley Robinson |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/10/kim-stanley-robinson-ministry-future-science-fiction |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Jacobin |date=2020-10-22}}</ref> In the [[Mars trilogy|''Mars'' trilogy]], it is argued that capitalism is an outgrowth of [[feudalism]], which could be replaced in the future by a more [[Economic democracy|democratic economic system]]. [[Worker cooperative|Worker ownership]] and [[cooperative]]s figure prominently in ''Green Mars'' and ''Blue Mars'' as replacements for traditional corporations. The ''Orange County'' trilogy explores similar arrangements; ''Pacific Edge'' includes the idea of attacking the legal framework behind corporate domination to promote social [[egalitarianism]]. Tim Kreider writes in the ''New Yorker'' that Robinson may be our greatest political novelist and describes how Robinson uses the ''Mars'' trilogy as a template for a credible utopia.<ref name="Kreider-2013" /> His works have made reference to real-world examples of economic organization that have been cited as examples of alternatives to conventional capitalist structures, such as the [[Mondragon Corporation]] and the [[Kerala model]].<ref name=markley />

Robinson's writing also reflects an interest in economic models that [[Degrowth|reject the growth-oriented basis of capitalism]]: [[Robert Markley]] has identified the work of [[Murray Bookchin]] as an influence on his thinking, as well as [[Steady-state economy|steady-state economics]].<ref name=markley />

Robinson's work often portrays characters struggling to preserve and enhance the world around them in an environment characterized by [[individualism]] and [[entrepreneurialism]], often facing the political and economic authoritarianism of corporate power acting in this environment. Robinson has been described as anti-capitalist, and his work often portrays a form of [[frontier]] capitalism that promotes egalitarian ideals that closely resemble [[Socialism|socialist]] systems, but faced with a capitalism that is maintained by entrenched hegemonic corporations. In particular, his Martian Constitution draws upon [[social democracy|social democratic]] ideals explicitly emphasizing a community-participation element in political and economic life.<ref>''Some Worknotes and Commentary on the Constitution by Charlotte Dorsa-Brevia,'' in ''The Martians'' pp. 233–239</ref>

Robinson's works often portray the worlds of tomorrow in a manner similar to the mythologized [[American frontier|American Western frontier]], showing a sentimental affection for the freedom and wildness of the frontier. This aesthetic includes a preoccupation with competing models of political and economic organization.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The environmental, economic, and social themes in Robinson's [[wikt:oeuvre|oeuvre]] stand in marked contrast to the [[libertarian science fiction|right-libertarian science fiction]] prevalent in much of the genre ([[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Poul Anderson]], [[Larry Niven]], and [[Jerry Pournelle]] being prominent examples). He has been described as "one of America's best-selling […] left-wing novelists" and his work has been called "probably the most successful attempt to reach a mass audience with an anti-capitalist utopian vision since [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s 1974 novel, ''[[The Dispossessed]]''".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raintaxi.com/utopic-fiction-and-the-mars-novels-of-kim-stanley-robinson/ |title=Utopic Fiction and the Mars Novels of Kim Stanley Robinson |website=Raintaxi|last=Smith |first= Jeremy |year=2001 |access-date=June 19, 2015}}</ref>

===Scientists as heroes===
Robinson's work often features scientists as heroes. They are portrayed in a mundane way compared to most work featuring scientists: rather than being adventurers or action heroes, Robinson's scientists become critically important because of research discoveries, networking and collaboration with other scientists, political lobbying, or becoming public figures. Robinson captures the joy of scientists as they work at something they care about.<ref name=":1" /> Robert Markley has argued that Robinson "views science as the model for a utopian politics... Even in Robinson's novels that don't seem to be sci-fi, like ''Shaman'', the inductive method, the collective search for greater knowledge about the world that can be put to use for the good for all, is front and center".<ref name=markley>{{cite web |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/kim-stanley-robinson-socialist-novelist |title=Kim Stanley Robinson Is One of Our Greatest Ever Socialist Novelists |last=Dilawar |first=Arvind |date=14 November 2020 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref> The [[Mars Trilogy|''Mars'' trilogy]] and ''[[The Years of Rice and Salt]]'' rely heavily on the idea that scientists must take responsibility for ensuring public understanding and responsible use of their discoveries. Robinson's scientists often emerge as the best people to direct public policy on important environmental and technological questions, of which politicians are often ignorant.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

===Climate change and global warming===
{{See|Climate fiction}}
Related to Robinson's focus on the environment are his themes of the imminent catastrophe of [[global warming]] and the need to limit [[greenhouse gas emissions]] in the present day. His 2012 novel ''[[2312 (novel)|2312]]'' explores the detrimental, [[long-term effects of climate change]], which include food shortages, global instability, [[Sixth Extinction|mass extinction]], and {{convert|7|m|ft|adj=on}} [[sea level rise]] that has drowned many major coastal cities.<ref name=Beauchamp/> The novel condemns the people of the period it calls "the Dithering", from 2005 to 2060, for failing to [[Climate change mitigation|address climate change]] and thereby causing mass suffering and death in the future.<ref name=Beauchamp/> Robinson and his work accuse global capitalism for the failure to address climate change.<ref name=Beauchamp /> In his 2017 novel ''[[New York 2140]]'' Robinson explores the themes of climate change and global warming, setting the novel in the year 2140 when the New York City he imagines is beset by a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} sea level rise that submerges half of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/utopia-in-the-time-of-trump//|work=Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB)|title=Utopia in the Time of Trump|last=Canavan|first= Gerry|year=2017 |access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref> Climate change is also the focus of his ''Science in the Capital'' series<ref name=Beauchamp/> and his 2020 novel ''[[The Ministry for the Future]]''.