"Fandom has been celebrated as a harmonious, tolerant space as often as it has been dismissed as apolitical and detached from reality. Yet fandom is neither harmonious nor apolitical. Throughout the past century, fandom has been shaped by recurring controversies, which often determined the future direction of fan communities or sparked the emergence of new circles, platforms, and discourses. Since the earliest days of science-fiction fandom, fans have conceived of their communities as quasi-political bodies, and of themselves as public actors in discursive spaces. Accordingly, they are concerned with the organizational structures, norms, and borders of fandom as well as their own position within the larger public sphere. In the 21st century, this latter concern has moved to the forefront as fan practices and platforms have increasingly been coopted by the entertainment industry and by political actors, forcing fans to situate their fannish and political identities in relation to both sprawling transmedia franchises and right-wing groups exploiting fannish formations for political ends. Through case studies of Glee and The Hunger Games fandoms as well as events such as Gamergate, RaceFail '09, and the controversies surrounding the Hugo Awards, this book explores the complexities of political fandom"--