Before I begin with my claim, I've noticed that there has been
discussion at Wikipedia over what constitutes 'steampunk.' There is
an
argument, for example, if the technology uses not steam, but
electricity, it is not steampunk.
For my purposes here, what I mean by steampunk fiction is a sub-genre
of science fiction, set in a time period roughly from 1850 to World
War
I and involves a more advanced technology than had actually
occurred. 'Steampunk' is a convenient label, one can call it Romantic
Science Fiction or something else, I do not wish to quarrel over
labels.

After getting that out of the way, I wish to propose here hopefully a
true an interesting claim concerning steampunk literature: steampunk
fiction stories have political backdrop, at least implicit. Here are
some examples: the TV show and movie Wild, Wild, West had politics.
Some characters were loyal to the United States government, others
ranged from old Confederates to Mexican revolutionaries.
A second example is from the more recent novel The Difference Engine
by Bruce Sterling. The introduction of a mechanical computer in the
19th century had repercussions for the British Empire. Another
example is the Jules Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The
political backdrop is implicit. In a later book by Verne we learn
that Captain Nemo was an Indian Prince; I heard that in a rough
draft, Captain Nemo was a Pole. Captain Nemo, whatever his personal
faults, seems to consider himself to be an enemy of tyranny.

The great truth of Steampunk fiction: Technology can have great
political and social implications.