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[[Permaculture]] and [[ecovillages]] are very popular within the solarpunk community, and are considered by many to be ideal forms of living in community with the earth and other people.
[[Permaculture]] and [[ecovillages]] are very popular within the solarpunk community, and are considered by many to be ideal forms of living in community with the earth and other people.


{{quote| "Those pushing for more immediate practical efforts believe a solarpunk movement could, among other things, help bring attention to communities already experiencing climate change most seriously, reminding audiences of an already-dangerous present. But whatever the preferred tactic, participants view solarpunk as ultimately having the potential to affect meaningful long-term political change." | Adam Boffa | ''At The Very Least We Know the End of the World Will Have a Bright Side'', quoted in [https://longreads.com/2018/12/12/solarpunk-review/]}}
{{quote| "Those pushing for more immediate practical efforts believe a solarpunk movement could, among other things, help bring attention to communities already experiencing climate change most seriously, reminding audiences of an already-dangerous present. But whatever the preferred tactic, participants view solarpunk as ultimately having the potential to affect meaningful long-term political change." | Adam Boffa | ''At The Very Least We Know the End of the World Will Have a Bright Side'', quoted in [https://longreads.com/2018/12/12/solarpunk-review/]}}
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=== Quotes ===
=== Quotes ===
[[File:Spbanner-orlathewitch.png]]
-a beautifully inspirational quote from Orla the Witch


"Move quietly and plant things.” - Andrew Dana Hudson<ref>https://solarpunks.net/post/123601204048/move-quietly-and-plant-things</ref>  
"Move quietly and plant things.” - Andrew Dana Hudson<ref>https://solarpunks.net/post/123601204048/move-quietly-and-plant-things</ref>  

Revision as of 03:20, 26 January 2019

Green Sunshine, an unofficial solarpunk symbol
Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is considered to be an example of solarpunk architecture and design. Photo by xiquinhosilva

Solarpunk is both a lifestyle movement and a relatively new eco-futurist, mixed genre speculative fictional subgenre focused on envisioning a positive future beyond scarcity and hierarchy, in which humanity is reintegrated with nature, and technology is used for human-centric and ecocentric purposes.[1] The term "solarpunk" is generally credited to the user missolivialouise on the popular social blogging platform Tumblr in August 2014;[2][3] though it appears to have also been coined by several different people independently in the early 2010s.

Solarpunk philosophy tends to be fairly pragmatic and proactive, it asks 'what can we do right now' and then does whatever that is.

"Solarpunk is the first creative movement consciously and positively responding to the Anthropocene. When no place on Earth is free from humanity's hedonism, Solarpunk proposes that humans can learn to live in harmony with the planet once again."
— Ben Valentine, Solarpunk wants to save the world, quoted in [1]

Lifestyle

Community gardens are an excellent example of solarpunk principles in action: DIY, gardening, feeding people, improving local ecology. Photo by Osbornb
"Solarpunk is everything from a positive imagining of our collective futures to actually creating it. The only reason why we don’t live in a solarpunk world right now is because no one has bothered to make it yet. We’ll have to make it ourselves, and we’ll have to help each other make it. That’s why it is solarpunk. "
— r/solarpunk/, "Wiki", from [2]

Some people consider it to be a lifestyle or political movement, and are interested in learning how to create the solarpunk futures they imagine. Multiple communities across multiple social media and internet platforms have been created to share, discuss, and debate everything from aesthetics and philosophy, to learning hands-on practical skills like gardening or repairing clothing or dumpster diving. Others are focused more on activism, which includes everything from helping to organize protests to trying to help unionize their workplaces or forming cooperatives. Politics, a source of some debate, usually leans on the left side of the spectrum. Many aspects of the environmental movement would be considered solarpunk, however solarpunk does embrace the thoughtful use of science and technology. The use of nuclear energy is debated within the community, as are issues surrounding the mining of materials used to create photovoltaic solar panels, among other difficult topics.

Permaculture and ecovillages are very popular within the solarpunk community, and are considered by many to be ideal forms of living in community with the earth and other people.


"Those pushing for more immediate practical efforts believe a solarpunk movement could, among other things, help bring attention to communities already experiencing climate change most seriously, reminding audiences of an already-dangerous present. But whatever the preferred tactic, participants view solarpunk as ultimately having the potential to affect meaningful long-term political change."
— Adam Boffa, At The Very Least We Know the End of the World Will Have a Bright Side, quoted in [3]

Fiction

Solarpunk fiction arose within the larger movement of cyberpunk, steampunk, biopunk, and related subgenres.[4] It distinguishes itself from these other movements by being more optimistic. In particular it contrasts greatly with postcyberpunk, which accepts the world we have and the systems that support it like globalization, industrialization, and exploiting resources in slightly-less-bad ways. Solarpunk aims to subvert those systems and replace them with ones that work better in the long-term through local communities, supporting artisans, and living sustainably.

Solarpunk fiction is usually set in a semi-utopian future, either near-term or long-term or more rarely the far past. As in other genres of speculative fiction fantastical elements are common; for example: solar-sail-powered, bio-plastic flying ships or organisms reminiscent of mythical creatures, probably genetic engineered.

"Pleasant green architecture means nothing if it becomes an extension of colonialist fantasy via the narratives of the same heroes that much Steam and Cyber abound with. To prevent earnestness from devolving into twee, the stories themselves need to be dislocated along with the imagery. Dislocation, rather than utopianism, is what will keep Solarpunk from running off as a libertarian seasteading vision, accelerationist implosion, or even just a store in the mall—and maybe even reclaim, if there such a thing, punk."
— Elvia Wilk, Is Ornamenting Solar Panels a Crime?, quoted in [4]

Art, music, and fashion are also considered by many to be important aspects of solarpunk, equally important as future technology. As with everything else in the community, there is some debate as to what qualifies as solarpunk or not. However, some creators are explicitly labeling their projects as solarpunk or solarpunk-inspired. One example is the the band Sieudiver[5], who has a song entitled 'Solarpunk City'[6]. Another example is the artist Matt Zeilinger[7], who created a piece called 'Solarpunk Girl'[8]

Solarpunk has a distinct set of aesthetics. Heavily influenced by Art Nouveau in shapes and colors; greens, earth tones, and bright yellows, golds, whites, silvers and blues predominate the color palette. Buildings and machines have organic shapes and integrate plants into their forms. Light, loose-fitting garments typify solarpunk fashion, although anything clearly DIY, repaired, or repurposed is included and encouraged. There are multiple blogs[9] and Pinterest boards dedicated to solarpunk fashion. As of yet, cosplay has not yet played a large role as in steampunk.

Quotes

Spbanner-orlathewitch.png -a beautifully inspirational quote from Orla the Witch

"Move quietly and plant things.” - Andrew Dana Hudson[10]

"Imagine A Future Worth Fighting For" - Zabet (online user at solarpunk discord)

"We’re Solarpunk because the only other options are denial or despair." — Adam Flynn[11]

"The dreamer is the designer of tomorrow" - Felix the Cat

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” - Ursula K. Le Guin[12]

"If it's inaccessible to the poor, it is neither radical nor revolutionary." - librarianbyday.tumblr.com[13]

"Think globally, act locally" - Patrick Geddes[14]

Footnotes

External links

BedZED ecovillage, the first large scale ecovillage in the UK. Photo by Tom Chance

Some popular Solarpunk fiction:

References

Template:Attrib wikipedia deleted

Culture and community

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