Contractual Gravities

Abstract

In this paper, I present a critical reading of the space opera television series Babylon 5 ( B5 ) (1994–98) from a Millsian radical liberal perspective filtered through a flat ontology. I argue that B5 ’s world is nonmodern, where various entities and their “gravities” affect how social forms are structured. The legal and contractual aspects of governance and politics are discussed, focusing on the issue of race. Whilst Charles Mills’s critique of racial contracts is fruitful, his political theory remains all-too human. B5 illustrates that any future republic ought to be nonmodern and rhizomatic in character, including nonhumans as elements.