Solarpunk, similar to the likes of Cyberpunk, is an art movement that reimagines humanity in its own image. Both Cyberpunk and Solarpunk find ground in imagining the immediate future of humanity just a few short decades away from where we presently stand, but apart from the setting of time, the two quickly diverge away from each other as if they are polar opposites.
Cyberpunk is often seen as a futuristic dystopian future with dirty streets filled with bright neon lights and unchecked corporate power that has led to the grim and crime-filled life of the lower classes. It depicts a future where capitalism has led to an immense accumulation of wealth among the upper class and therefore corporate power that controls vast sects of society, leading to the poverty of the working class.
By contrast, Solarpunk is a beautiful, hopeful future that depicts humanity coexisting with nature. Here, our contemporary issues of global warming and climate change are avoided (or at least manageable) as humanity transitions away in time from polluting fossil fuels to green alternatives like solar and wind energy.
Often portrayed with flourishing natural colours and an abundance of greenery, Solarpunk art is entirely different from its cousin of cyberpunk. The worlds depicted are nothing short of encouraging, because they depict a world that imagines humanity having succeeded in the fight against climate change, global warming and the all-encompassing ruthless tyrant that is capitalism.
A Solarpunk world has a few key features that are core to the principles and philosophy of the movement. Firstly, there are makerspaces or worker co-ops: commonly owned spaces to be used by the community for whatever they desire or the collective ownership of the means of production, i.e. the democratization of the workspace, where each worker is treated as an equal and therefore has a say in how business is run. It is therefore common to see art depicting a happy closely-knit community of people or workers.
Secondly there is, of course, the use of green technology and renewables. In this future, the move to decarbonize humanity succeeds as it makes the transition to renewable energy; vast solar and wind farms are often depicted providing the cities their source of energy, whilst rural areas can be seen with downscaled rooftop versions of the technology. Apart from energy infrastructure, there exists green technologies such as ovens that harness the power of the sun to cook food, or the use of terracotta cooling systems to replace traditional fossil fuel reliant air conditioners. Next generation large wind sails are a possibility to decarbonize the shipping industry, while airships with their possible zero-carbon or low-carbon energy requirements could phase out the use of other more carbon-intensive modes of transport.
In Solarpunk, vegetation is heavily featured in the cities on incredibly large scales. It is a fact that vegetation cools the average temperature, which is beneficial to our concrete cities. Not only does it feel cooler, but it looks cooler as well; vegetation depicted in these cities are especially aesthetically pleasing. However, they should only be grown and planted in a sustainable way, as some methods of adding vegetation to cities can be water-intensive and therefore not truly sustainable.
Lastly but also most importantly is the role nature plays in Solarpunk. Solarpunk is crafted to be a world where humanity, instead of working against Mother Nature, works alongside her. Whether it is about the extraction of metals and minerals, or the impacts of industrialized farming on water availability and soil quality, it emphasises the need for more sustainable modes of production as the Earth contains a finite amount of resources, and therefore needs to be carefully managed. What is no longer used needs to be reusable for someone else or at least be recycled—there can really be no room to waste resources.
Many of those interested in the movement fall head over heels for this depiction of Solarpunk.
The Politics of Solarpunk
Whilst Solarpunk has no political ideation in and of itself, the movement is by virtue of being punk opposed to the existing world and its organization. It has become affiliated with many progressive, left wing ideologies like anarchism, communism, socialism and everything in between. Though anyone can like Solarpunk, they need to be aware of the politics behind it. The reason it has become affiliated with these groups is because Solarpunk isn’t just creating green buildings and renewables; it is also about fostering communities, and places a lot of emphasis on worker co-ops. A Solarpunk world cannot be achieved on one’s own, and requires the collective to work together to bring art into reality.
The status quo and current ruling class has not done much to bring this art into reality, however, despite having unlocked renewable forms of energy for ages now. The short-term ‘profit over planet’ motive discourages corporations from adopting greener technologies because doing so would affect their revenues. It incentivizes corporations to lie and mislead the public about issues regarding our climate to keep their pockets full. It is this system which has allowed companies like ExxonMobil to continue its operations despite having possibly committed the greatest crime against humanity. For context, ExxonMobil conducted large scale research in the late 70’s up into the 80’s and concluded that burning fossil fuels would have adverse effects on our civilization. And instead of preaching to the masses about the potential disaster and creating plans to diverge away from fossil fuels, the company and its executives decided to just lie. They knew about the science before the general public had even heard about the term ‘climate change’, yet decided to screw over everyday people and put short-term profit over the entire planet. Exxonmobil also funded misinformation and poured money into various organizations to spread their word. The lies have had consequential effects, as we can see today with the amount of climate change denialists. Unfortunately for the rest of us, their scheme worked.
But simply removing the executives that made this decision and possibly fining the company billions couldn’t resolve the issue entirely. Exxonmobil has, like many other fossil fuel companies, become incorporated into the everyday person’s life. The reliance on commuting to work via car means that the worker is reliant on oil provided by the fossil fuel industry. Humanity as a whole is over-reliant on roads, which makes owning your own vehicle a necessity most of the time. We therefore depend on the oil these companies supply to fuel our cars and trucks. Compounding this, is the fact that electric vehicles—better than non-electric ones in terms of CO2 impact—are often way out of reach for low-income citizens, many of whom have to buy second hand vehicles as they are much cheaper, but come at the cost of being more polluting and less fuel-efficient.
The solution is extremely complex. How do you fix the problem without harming low-income workers who depend on this lifestyle to maintain their material conditions? A few ideas come to mind, such as government subsidies for electric vehicles to potentially undercut the cost of non-electric vehicles and thus incentivise the population to make a move to EVs, or investing into rail infrastructure. This would be far more energy efficient as the carrying capacity of subways is much larger than road vehicles; a smaller carbon footprint is generated than if everyone taking the subway had their own car.
There are many more examples of why the current system is so tainted that it cannot achieve what needs to be done to preserve life on Earth. For instance, what BP (British Petroleum) has done to shift the blame of climate change from corporations onto individuals, or the lobbying efforts of fossil fuel companies that succeed in controlling politicians to serve their interests like Joe Manchin and the billionaire space race, where the richest men on Earth spend their stolen money on going to space instead of the fight against our most pressing terrestrial issues.
This fact alone tells us the sad story that there is something wrong with the system. It is therefore understood that Solarpunk cannot be achieved in this same system, that has manufactured corporations like ExxonMobil which profit as the end all be all. The system works in their favor and not ours; the companies responsible would have long been dissolved otherwise, their executives in jail and in their place a thorough solution that addresses the problems faced by the working class that also does not lower their quality of life.
Solarpunk is left wing, radical and progressive. It seeks to dismantle the present-day system in favor of something like a eco-socialist agenda. Why is it so? Because in order to save our futures, we need radical, worldwide, societal change to combat climate change. The system in place now isn’t going to save us. A green revolution is needed, and Solarpunk can be the face of it.
The Benefits of the Movement
Solarpunk acts as a useful tool against climate doomerism as it provides us with hope for a better, sustainable future—and not the foolish blind hope at that. Preventing climate doomerism is key in the movement, as becoming a climate doomer makes one no better than a climate denialist. Being a doomer is counterproductive. We all know too well how depressing it is to take a look at the world today and think of the grim future in store for us if nothing is done.
However, the Solarpunk movement might ease the minds of some of us who suffer from climate change-induced anxiety and/or depression as it provides hope. The movement can also potentially act as a gateway for learning about and eventually advocating in more progressive politics, as Solarpunk often finds itself affiliated with left-leaning politics. This is in turn a great way to garner more support for progressive change as more and more are made aware of the urgency of the issues we face today.
What can you do?
One method to act in line with the movement is ‘guerilla gardening’. This is the action of turning unused land and public areas into gardens without permission. Many unused pieces of land found on roads and sidewalks are often targeted by guerrilla gardeners. In order to make this more environmentally friendly, the gardeners prioritize using indigenous, non-invasive, and usually low-maintenance plants sourced from local sustainable businesses or directly from nurseries. In combination with clay, some water and compost, these locally-sourced seeds can be modeled into a bomb—a seed bomb, the guerilla gardener’s choice of weapon. They can simply throw it into empty spaces of dirt and the ‘bomb’ will explode on impact, allowing the seeds to develop and grow. The benefits of guerilla gardening allow individuals to bond and develop a community, whilst at the same time turning ugly street corners into colorful and vibrant gardens.
Then there are career options. Those who feel passionately about this issue can opt to take on majors pertaining to our current challenge, such as environmental science, mechanical engineering or a combination of the two. It doesn’t stop there either; those who are more creative can connect with subjects relating to city designs like architecture and urban planning. These are but a few of the ever-growing fields of study that can provide insight and allow their pursuers to work towards a greener, better future.
Consumerism is another aspect we should take note of. Instead of buying into what is trendy or fashionable, it is more sustainable to buy second hand items. For example, shopping for clothes at thrift stores instead of fast fashion chain stores. The same goes for electronics. You do not need to buy a new smartphone every year; instead, do your best to keep it for as long as possible, and when it does eventually give out, recycle it so the rare metals inside it can be reused.
Lastly, protesting is the most important method to advocate your thoughts and beliefs. Nothing is stronger than wide-scale community action. Our overwhelming numbers represent the single biggest threat against the ruling elite; after all, there will always be a lot more of us than them. Opposing union-busting methods and successfully forming unions (or joining them) is a good way as a worker to protect yourself and your colleagues, as unions allow the whole to engage in collective bargaining against whatever evil corporation is refusing to do the right thing, e.g. paid maternity leave, lunch break, paying better than starvation wages, etc. Your material conditions can improve substantially by joining a union, because if the company doesn’t want to provide better contracts then the union can go on strike. Striking is very dangerous for companies, because when they get big enough it will hold their factories and sources of income hostage. They will try to break the strike and outlast it but if they cannot find a way to replace the workers they will have to succumb to the reasonable demands of their employees.