The Mass Effect of Manifest Destiny: Exploring themes of Colonialism in the Mass Effect Series

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "(Re)Presenting the Past: Archaeological Influences on Historical Narratives in Video Games" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The first scene in video game series, Mass Effect, introduces archaeology and material culture as fundamental to the narrative. Over a hundred years into our future, an ancient alien artifact unearthed on Mars propels humanity into faster-than-light travel via mass relays. The human species is introduced to the universe and its diverse inhabitants - and as such xeno-anthropology and xeno-archaeology. Within this scope, being a patriot is no longer tied to geographic borders, but planetary. This paper will explore aspects of colonialism, supremacist identities, and racism within the Mass Effect trilogy and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• (Re)Presenting the Past: Archaeological Influences on Historical Narratives in Video Games   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology