Author: Dinah Kolka

I always found myself fascinated with movements. People love organising and segregating themselves into quasi-communities that help them foster a sense of purpose and support ‘the cause’. There are countless examples, some of my favourite being the Vorticists, Futurists, or Imagists. The 20^th century was likely one of the most energetic centuries with a multitude of ideas on how to bring people together/improve things for the nation, a group, or a cause. Nowadays, there is a similar drive. Despite many people choosing a self-righteous ‘exodus’ from X, I like surrounding myself with a variety of people and retaining the sense of curiosity that is ever so important in a divisive society.

This is how I first encountered the concept of ‘Anglofuturism’ and realised that the ‘movements’ are thriving in the current era. The concept fascinated and baffled me, as from my basic understanding and research, I found out that Anglofuturists proclaim that the only way we can ever colonise Mars, is through the paradox of ‘anglo’ and ‘futurism’. Anglo here is the spirit of pre-modern England and its values, and futurism is the love for technology and the Faustian spirit.

As much as the name may raise more questions than answers, having reviewed some of Alexander’s work, I did find his ideas alluring and I decided to read and review his collection of essays ‘Collected Essays on AngloFuturism Philosophy’, published in December 2024. The collection focused on exploring the philosophy behind Anglofuturism, concentrating on the five key pillars thereof: family, housing, order, technology, and competency.

The concept attempts to be non-political and non-nationalistic, which immediately attracted me. However, there are strands of ideology within it, ideology based on ultimate, common-sense values that should generally appeal to most reasonable people. It is fascinating seeing how despite being called anglofuturists, they stray away from the nationalistic label, simply creating their own mixture of ethnic- and civic- nationalism, essentially designed for a group of people focused on conforming to these ‘Anglo’ values. Alexander goes into detail on what the ‘Anglo’ part means, diving deep into English history and theology.

Alexander suggests that ‘technologies which encourage people to go outdoors and engage with their community are preferred. Whilst any technologies which foster a culture of isolation and separation between people are discouraged.’

Alexander’s take on futurism is predominantly focused on the burst of energy that futurism brought to the world and this is the energy that is required to move the technological progress forward. ‘It provides the energy to propel the arrow, or society, to the next technological leap.’ But he also wants to see technology grounded in reality and community, to ensure that the technology does not take away from us being truly human.

The focus here is placed on technology working with people, rather than against them, framing technology as something positive, that’s used by healthy people with clear goals and healthy minds. Without a well-organised society, one cannot enjoy the benefits of technology. The common sense here is an alternative to excessive rationalism.

There is a lot of detail in the book that draws on the history of England, and I wish it was referenced accurately – this is, unfortunately, the weakest point of the book. Where Alexander does well to explain and describe his ideas in an approachable manner, however, this simplicity is also what fails the book as a legitimate, rigidly researched body of work. This isn’t to say that the book offers no value, on the contrary, I’d suggest that this should be taken as an introduction to the movement and the work must continue to present a longer, rigorously researched body of work that can be dissected academically (even though this is something that Alexander does not approve of, as clearly stated in his chapter titled ‘Simplicity of language’. Unfortunately, the reality is that we live in an intellectualised world and without thorough research, we risk our ideas not being heard, or even worse – discarded.)

Alexander is clearly well-accustomed to matters of theology – his book offers a solid commentary on anything church-related that applies to Anglofuturism per se.  I really enjoyed the chapter on ‘Anglo Spirituality’ which detailed the spiritual practices of a pre-modern English man and his responsibilities towards society, church, and family. This was an excellent chapter which really brought Alexander’s strengths to the fore. Similarly, Alexander doesn’t shy away from talking about the importance of selfless love – not something that you’d readily see in a book about a movement. Alexander’s theological background carries the collection and ensures that Anglofuturism is motivated by objective good.

 Overall, the book offers a promising introduction to ‘anglofuturism’. It begins a conversation about what it really takes to colonise Mars and what kind of society we need in order to approach it effectively. I think the ideas found within Alexander’s work stand the test of time and offer timeless advice on how society should be structured to make it work efficiently, with the added benefit of ‘going to the stars’.

Dinah is the founder of Decadent Serpent and a graduate of Edinburgh Napier University with a BA(Hons) in English Literature. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Salisbury Review and The Mallard. She was also published in the Scottish Book Trust’s 2018 anthology Rebel. In 2023, Dinah self-published her own collection of short stories, The Search and Other Stories.