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I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I was once a dyed-in-the-wool techno-utopian. Fully Automated Luxury Communism? Solar-powered robots growing and preparing our food, so we all can simply relax and play and create? I was once fully signed-up.
But it was hard for me, even then, to ignore the dystopian possibilities of high technology; science fiction is full of dark visions that seem inexorably to ooze across the porous barrier between fiction and reality. I had grown up aspiring to be a scientist or technologist who helps lead us into a bright, thriving future; the idea that I might instead be contributing to a future of exploitation and resource overshoot threatened to undermine the very foundation of my then-identity.
I was therefore thrilled, back then, to discover the 'solarpunk' movement. Solarpunks recognized the terrible potentials of emerging technologies for control and exploitation; but they believed that many of these technologies could, if thoughtfully designed and deployed, bring great benefits to everyone. They were committed to the possibility of a high-tech future in which everyone thrives. As one popular solarpunk manifesto put it:
"We’re solarpunks because the only other options are denial or despair."
Solarpunk allowed me to retain my identity as a technologist, and still believe that I was contributing to a positive future.
And then I read Chris Smaje. And then Richard Heinberg. I found the Doomer Optimism Podcast. And through that podcast, Dougald Hine. Neurons migrated slowly ... then in droves ...
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. It had been years since I'd thought of the solarpunk movement. Rafi, and old friend from my solarpunk days, got back in touch. He was organizing a solarpunk conference to be held in a few months.
Reconnecting with Rafi, I wondered: is there a core spirit in the 'solarpunk' movement that might survive energy descent, and the inevitable unraveling of high technology? Is there a solarpunk without technology at its core?
Rafi and I explored some of these questions in the conversation above. Hope you enjoy!