Ecological Science Fiction and Sustainability Transitions Panel (Part 2)
Type of Session
Full Presentation Panel
Abstract
This panel is linked to Ecological Science Fiction and Sustainability Transitions, Panel 1. Environmentalists have become adept at critiquing society's prevailing direction. Large-scale, accelerating ecological decline is a telling sign, they say, that we are on the wrong path. But what does a sustainable transition look like? And what precisely will it take to put the world on such a path? It feels sometimes as though contemporary environmentalism is long on assessment but short on vision. If people are to take seriously the challenge of crafting a more humane, more resilient world, it must ultimately be on the back of compelling, achievable visions of our shared future. Where is one to look for inspiration? Science fiction authors have long concerned themselves with the effects of human actions on the earth's living systems. From richly-drawn eco-topian visions to prophecies of large-scale ecological collapse, speculative fiction offers a panoramic vista of future worlds. It also offers tools and ideas that can be used in our classrooms to engage students (often disillusioned by a world that seems stuck on a single track). As people strive at this crucial moment to produce a new ecological imaginary, never has the power of this "last great literature of ideas" to offer fresh insights and powerful visions of our future been so welcome, nor so important. The papers on this panel will delve into speculative fiction, to see what this literary tradition has to teach not just about the world's present environmental condition, but also about alternative futures, and about the kinds of actions that might get us from here to there.
Primary Contact
Kate O'Neill, University of California at Berkeley
Presenters
Dr. Alastair Iles, University of California, Berkeley
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Sameness and Diversity in Making Transitions to Sustainability: Insights from Ecological Science Fiction
Irene Morrison, UC Riverside
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Combatting Malthus in the classroom with Atwood's MaddAddam
Ronnie D Lipschutz, UC Santa Cruz
E-mail address (preferred) or phone number
Title of paper
Utopia or Catastrophe? Reflections on the 40th Anniversary of Ecotopia’s Publication