Recently, a newbie in a Solarpunk discord server I’m on asked for someone to explain what solarpunk actually is. Here is what I wrote and, to be honest, I’m quite happy with it.
Solar punk is a movement that looks forward and envisions a future of sustainability (rather than perpetual economic growth) being a key societal consideration. It obviously has strong connections with sustainable energy (Eg. Solar power), but it also embraces ideas like sustainable agriculture (such as locally grown food, environmentally friendly pest control, accepting seasonality, etc), ethical fashion (rejecting slave labor, using sustainable textiles, etc.), and building strong local communities.
As an artistic movement, it’s the anti-thesis of Cyberpunk. Where cyberpunk is dark and oppressive, Solarpunk is bright and open. Where cyberpunk envisions corporations as nearly all-powerful, solarpunk sees the most strength in communities and co-ops. In total, Cyberpunk adopts an attitude of “it’s dog-eat-dog, me against the world” versus Solarpunk’s “we can only succeed if we work together and with the world”. In a word, “Hopeful”.
Almost as a natural consequence of the importance of both sustainability and community, Solarpunk has a STRONG bend towards DIY and Reuse. “Don’t replace something if you can fix it.” “If you don’t have a use for something anymore, find someone who does and let them give it a new life.” In a way, this is the most “punk” aspect of Solarpunk, as it’s countercultural against the current imposed reality of planned obsolescence and intentional lack of repairability (either through design or restriction of replacement parts) by product manufacturers and big businesses.
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