The more I read, the more I shared the author’s frustration here. The person the author was arguing with was claiming that “punk” can’t exist in a utopia, that it needs a dystopian society to rebel against, so because “solarpunk” is a utopian movement it can’t be punk.
Which, one, that’s pedantic bullshit that quibbles about terminology and makes no substantive critique of solarpunk ideas; two, it’s wrong, because solarpunk as a genre does have a dystopia it’s rebelling against, and that dystopia is the modern 21st century capitalist West; and three, there is nothing less punk than trying to gatekeep the definition of “punk”.
Which is to say, the more I read, the more disappointed I was in this article, because there are genuine substantive critiques of solarpunk, eg as an escapist fantasy, as impractical utopianism, and ultimately this whole long article was just an argument about whether we should call solarpunk punk.
But there were some good book recommendations in it, so that’s cool.
Is it still worth a read?
Nah. Tbh it’s just your average Twitter comment thread, arguing over pointless shit, and then one side of the argument reposting the thread on their own website with a bunch more commentary about why they’re right.
And it’s the side I agree with, but still.
Since this was posted, the author has joined Mastodon if you want to follow him on the Fediverse : @eruditelijah@kolektiva.social
Cool, will do.
This is why, at the end of the day, even amidst my anger and frustration… I do have empathy for people who don’t understand solarpunk. Because they are falling prey to the actual critique I have of the genre. That we simply need more of it. That there’s not enough out there that really delves into the nuts and seeds. At least not enough to overpower the AI slop and greenwashing and capitalization of these concepts.
It feels like solarpunk is suffering from the same problem that communism and socialism have for decades: the people who are trying to build a real movement under that name are getting drowned out out tourists and haters, to the point that the strawman version is more recognisable than the “real” version.
When I first learned about the movement, I was excited and started building my own project under the banner. As I explored more, I was disappointed by how much AI slop and pie-in-the-sky roleplay there was.
I’m still building my project, but I may not publish it as a solarpunk work because I don’t want it to be tainted by association with the strawman.
The only way to continue to deny the incorrect view of solarpunk is to contribute to the appropriate view of it! If you believe in the idea, don’t give up on it
