Solarpunk

Solarpunk is

• a visual aesthetic and science fiction genre
• a social movement working towards a sustainable and beautiful future

Solarpunk emerged in the 2010s in response to a lack of desirable visions for the future in the popular imagination. Solarpunk is a rejection of dystopia. Whereas Cyberpunk depicts futures in which humanity is totally estranged from nature, living in dense and bleak cities controlled by megacorporations, Solarpunk is imagining human societies that are more egalitarian and decentralized and are seeking a harmonious relationship to the natural world. In a Solarpunk future we have begun (or succeeded) to address global challenges such as climate change and ecological degradation through the appropriate use of technology and the abolition of oppressive and exploitative systems such as capitalism and colonialism.

Some of the characteristics of Solarpunk (both visually and ideologically) have been articulated in the Solarpunk Manifesto.

One of the best depictions of Solarpunk to date was created as an advertisement. Fortunately there is a decommodified version in which the branding has been removed: 'Dear Alice' Decommodified Edition

For a more politically explicit and socially conscious depiction of Solarpunk, check out the short comic We Would Call It Solarpunk by the-lemonaut.