In recent years well-meaning, but tone-deaf artists have insisted that there is no place for politics in the techno scene. Can't we all just gather as one? However, as many of techno's founders rightly insist, this whitewashes the truth: Techno's roots are unquestionably linked to politics. Black culture has long been coopted to the point of eradication, and this is just another example.
The panel will discuss the development of techno's political and utopian ideals, and how they relate to the situation on the ground in cities that had been left for dead. We'll explore how Afrofuturism is, among other things, the culmination of years of alienation producing an Alien Nation. Experts on the subject will make connections to culture and media that reaches far beyond the dance floor.