Editing Cyberpunk (section)

=== Society and government ===
Cyberpunk can be intended to disquiet readers and call them to action. It often expresses a sense of rebellion, suggesting that one could describe it as a type of cultural revolution in science fiction. In the words of author and critic [[David Brin]]:

<blockquote>...a closer look [at cyberpunk authors] reveals that they nearly always portray future societies in which governments have become wimpy and pathetic ...Popular science fiction tales by Gibson, Williams, Cadigan and others ''do'' depict [[Orwellian]] accumulations of power in the next century, but nearly always clutched in the secretive hands of a wealthy or corporate [[elite]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=David |first=Brin |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/798534246 |title=The Transparent Society : Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?. |date=1999 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02790-3 |oclc=798534246}}</ref></blockquote>

Cyberpunk stories have also been seen as fictional forecasts of the evolution of the [[Internet]]. The earliest descriptions of a global communications network came long before the [[World Wide Web]] entered popular awareness, though not before traditional science-fiction writers such as [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and some social commentators such as [[James Burke (science historian)|James Burke]] began predicting that such networks would eventually form.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Arthur C. |last=Clarke |title=The Last Question |magazine=Science Fiction Quarterly |year=1956}}</ref>

Some observers cite that cyberpunk tends to marginalize sectors of society such as women and people of colour. It is claimed that, for instance, cyberpunk depicts fantasies that ultimately empower [[masculinity]] using fragmentary and decentered aesthetic that culminate in a masculine genre populated by male outlaws.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Reload: Rethinking Women + Cyberculture|last1=Flanagan|first1=Mary|last2=Booth|first2=Austin|publisher=MIT Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-262-06227-5|location=Cambridge, MA|pages=7–8}}</ref> Critics also note the absence of any reference to Africa or black characters in the quintessential cyberpunk film ''Blade Runner'',<ref name=":0" /> while other films reinforce stereotypes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cyberpunk Women, Feminism and Science Fiction: A Critical Study|last=Lavigne|first=Carlen|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|year=2013|isbn=978-0-7864-6653-5|location=Jefferson, NC|pages=51}}</ref>