Solarpunk is aliterary andartistic movement, close to thehopepunk movement,[3] that envisions and works toward actualizing asustainable future interconnected with nature and community.[4][5][6] The "solar" representssolar energy as arenewable energy source and anoptimistic vision of the future that rejectsclimate doomerism,[7] while the "punk" refers todo it yourself and thecountercultural,post-capitalist, and sometimesdecolonial aspects of creating such a future.[8]
As ascience fictionliterary subgenre andart movement, solarpunk works to address how the future might look if humanity succeeded in solving major contemporary challenges with an emphasis on sustainability,human impact on the environment, and addressingclimate change andpollution. Especially as a subgenre, it is aligned withcyberpunk derivatives, and may borrow elements fromutopian andfantasy genres.[7]
Solarpunk serves as a foil to the cyberpunk genre, particularly within the fashion industry.[9] Both genres create and consolidate post-industrial countercultures; Solarpunk incites rebellion through its depiction of protoenvironmental socioecological relationships, whereas Cyberpunk advances the theme of rebellion through detached secondary environments, which often takes place in tangible dataspheres, virtual landscapes, and dystopian urban environments. Solarpunk draws inspiration fromBohemian style. The convergence of environmentalism and art serve as a framework for both subgenres. Solarpunk's interpretation of social collectivism strongly contrasts the individuality of Bohemian counterculture; Solarpunk recognizes individuality as an integral component ofprogressivism and identifies sociocultural distinctions as an impetus for change, though solarpunk encompasses these elements within the greater socioecological scaffolding in a manner that contrasts the Bohemian assertion that individuality alone acts as the sole impetus for change.[10]
The termsolarpunk was coined in 2008 in a blog post titled "From Steampunk to Solarpunk",[11] in which the anonymous author, taking the design of theMSBeluga Skysails (the world's first ship partially powered by a computer-controlledkite rig) as inspiration, conceptualizes a new speculative fiction subgenre withsteampunk's focal point on specific technologies but guided by practicality and modern economics.[12] Along a similar vein, in 2009, literary publicist Matt Staggs posted a "GreenPunk Manifesto" on his blog describing his vision of a technophilic genre focused on knowable,do it yourself technologies and with emphasis on positive ecological and social change.[13][14] After visual artist Olivia Louise posted concept art onTumblr of a solarpunk aesthetic in 2014,[15] researcher Adam Flynn contributed to the science fiction forumProject Hieroglyph with further definition of the emerging genre.[16][17] Based on Flynn's notes and contributions on the website solarpunks.net,A Solarpunk Manifesto was published in 2019. It describes solarpunk as "a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the questions 'what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?'".[18] In 2024,solarpunk enteredThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Here, James Machell points toSongs from the Stars byNorman Spinrad as the subgenre's first text, and goes on to contrast solarpunk withcyberpunk, stating, "It is a rebellion against a rebellion, born out ofdystopia fatigue."[19]
While solarpunk has no specific political ideation, it does by default embrace the need for a collective movement away from polluting forms of energy.[20] It practicesprefigurative politics, creating spaces where the principles of a movement can be explored and demonstrated by enacting them in real life. Solarpunks practice the movement in various ways, including creating and living in communities (such asecovillages), growing their own food, and a DIY ethic of working with what is available, including the thoughtful application of technology.[21][22]
Stories set in the far future or in fantasy worlds often portray societal failures recognizable to contemporary audiences.[24] These failures may include oppressive imbalances of wealth or power, degradation of natural habitat or processes, and impacts of climate change. Evidence of injustices, likesocial exclusion andenvironmental racism, may be present. Disastrous consequences are not necessarily averted but solarpunk tends to present a counter-dystopian perspective. Their worlds are not necessarily utopian but rather solarpunk seeks to present an alternative to a pessimistic, consequential dystopian outcome.[25] To achieve this, themes of do it yourself ethics, convivial conservation,self-sustainability, social inclusiveness andpositive psychology are often present. This perspective also more closely embeds the ideals ofpunk ideologies, such asanti-consumerism,egalitarianism anddecentralization, than cyberpunk which typically includes protagonists with punk beliefs but in settings that are used more as a warning of a potential future.[25][26]
The integration of technologies into society in a manner that improvessocial, economic and environmentalsustainability is central to solarpunk.[25] It is starkly contrasted to cyberpunk which portrays highly advanced technologies that have little influence on, or otherwise exacerbate social, economic, and environmental problems. Whereas cyberpunk envisions humanity becoming more alienated from its natural environment and subsumed by technology, solarpunk envisions settings where technology enables humanity to better co-exist with itself and its environment.[citation needed]
Solarpunk is more similar to steampunk than cyberpunk. Both steampunk and solarpunk imagine new worlds but with different primary sources of energy; respectively, thesteam engines, andrenewable energy.[27] Though, whereas steampunk focuses more on history and usesVictorian era aesthetics, solarpunk uses more Art Nouveau style and looks to the future. Solarpunk also shares some elements withretrofuturism,Afrofuturism,Bionics andArts and Crafts. The retrofuturist reevaluation of technology, its desire for understandable mechanics, and rejection of mysteriousblack box technology, and in favor ofappropriate technology,[28] are found in solarpunk works. As is the Afrofuturist's counter to mass-cultural homogeneity, the reckoning of injustices, and use of architecture and technology to correct power imbalances and problems in accessibility.[25]
Although solarpunk is concerned with technology, it also embraces low-tech ways of living sustainably such asgardening,permaculture,regenerative design,tool libraries,maker spaces,open-source,positive psychology,metacognition, anddo-it-yourself ethics. Its themes may reflect onenvironmental philosophy such asbright green environmentalism andsocial ecology, as well aspunk ideologies such asanarchism,socialism,anti-consumerism,anti-authoritarianism,anti-capitalism,civil rights,commoning, anddecentralization.[29][30]
Solarpunk often includes elements of racial andgender equality, drawing this theme from earlier utopian works.[31]Marge Piercy's 1976 classicWoman on the Edge of Time, explored family roles and introduced the pronoun 'per'.Ursula K. Le Guin's 1969 bookThe Left Hand of Darkness included gender fluidity.[32] Her bookThe Dispossessed eliminated compulsory monogamy.[31]Becky Chambers' 2021 solarpunk novelA Psalm for the Wild-Built included a main character who is non-binary.
As an art movement, solarpunk emerged in the 2010s as a reaction to the prevalence of bleakpost-apocalyptic anddystopian media alongside an increased awareness of social injustices, impacts of climate change, and inextricableeconomic inequality. Aspost-apocalyptic anddystopian was ubiquitous in media, solarpunk became an attractive alternative.[26] Solarpunk is optimistic yet realistic in confronting contemporary problems.[33]
The solarpunk visual identity, as expressed by Olivia Louise and subsequent artists, is compared toArt Nouveau with its depictions of plants, use of sinuous lines likewhiplash, and integration of applied arts into fine arts. The ornamentalArts and Crafts movement, an influence on Art Nouveau, is present[34][35] and its built forms reflectFrank Lloyd Wright'sorganic architecture.[24] The solarpunk aesthetic typically utilizes natural colors, bright greens and blues, and allusions to diverse cultural origins. Examples of this aesthetic include Boeri Studio'sBosco Verticale in Milan, the depiction ofWakanda inMarvel Studios'Black Panther and Auroa inTom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint,Cities: Skylines's Green Cities expansion, and someStudio Ghibli movies, particularlyCastle in the Sky andNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[36][37] Contrasted to cyberpunk, which is portrayed as having a dark, grim aesthetic surrounded by an artificial and domineering built environment reflective of alienation and subjugation, solarpunk is bright, with light often used as a motif and in imagery to convey feelings of cleanliness, abundance, and equability. However, light could alternatively be used to symbolize something that "subsumes everything beneath it, [an] emblem of tyranny [and] surveillance".[12]
In literature, solarpunk is a subgenre within science fiction, though it may also include elements of other types ofspeculative fiction such as fantasy and utopian fiction. It is acyberpunk derivative, contrasted tocyberpunk for its particular extrapolation of technology's impact on society andprogress. Cyberpunk characters are typically those marginalized by rapid technological change or subsumed by technology, while the solarpunk archetype has been described as a "maker-hero"[24] who has witnessed environmental disaster or failures by central authorities to adapt to crises or injustice, often in defense of nature[38] and in ways that allow the story to illustrate optimistic outcomes.[36] Its fictions illustrate feasible worlds that do not ignore the mechanics or ingredients of how it was arrived at.[35]
Previously published novels that fit into this new genre includedUrsula K. Le Guin'sAlways Coming Home (1985)[39] andThe Dispossessed (1974),Ernest Callenbach'sEcotopia (1975),Kim Stanley Robinson'sPacific Edge (1990), andStarhawk'sThe Fifth Sacred Thing (1993), largely for their depictions of contemporary worlds transitioning to more sustainable societies.[25] However, the first explicit entries published into the genre were the short stories inanthologiesSolarpunk: Ecological and Fantastic Stories in a Sustainable World (2012) (which was the third part of the publisher's trilogy of short story collections preceded byVaporpunk andDieselpunk),[40]Wings of Renewal: A Solarpunk Dragons Anthology (2015),Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation (2017) andGlass and Gardens (2018).[41] In 2018, authorBecky Chambers agreed to write two solarpunk novellas forTor Books and publishedA Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021) andA Prayer for the Crown-Shy (2022).[42]
In a 2019Slate article, authorLee Konstantinou stated that solarpunk authors "...proclaim their commitment to "ingenuity, generativity, independence, and community", while going against the "nihilistic tendencies of cyberpunk and the reactionary tendencies of steampunk." He argues that solarpunk is aspirational, as it aims to provide "suggestions for the kind of science fiction or fantasy we ought to be writing".[43] Solarpunk can include elements ofmundane science fiction. In aSolarpunk Futures interview withNina Munteanu about her solarpunk novelA Diary in the Age of Water, Munteanu said she incorporated elements of mundane science fiction to add "the gritty realism of the mundane" to the story.[44]
As in written fiction, solarpunk themes in film predate the recognition of solarpunk as a genre and the aesthetics and themes of the genre are increasingly present in contemporary works. Many of the works ofHayao Miyazaki are recognized in hindsight as examples of early solarpunk cinema.[citation needed] Additionally, the intersection of ecological stewardship and science fiction have also appeared in numerous western animated films such asTreasure Planet (2002),WALL-E (2008), andStrange World (2022).[citation needed]
Examples of live action solarpunk cinema include James Cameron'sAvatar films and Benh Zeitlin'sBeasts of the Southern Wild (2012).
In a study of the 44 most popular Americanscience fiction films, nature was found to be ignored in visions of the future, depicted in cities withmonoculture lawns and ornamental gardens. Nature is never portrayed in these films in an innovative or integrated way with future human civilization. At best, nature is simply portrayed as a backgroundmotif. The study suggested for artists to "collaborate to imagine how to integrate nature and biodiversity into the depictions of future cities".[45]
Alongside literature and visual art, solarpunk explorations within tabletop games have become increasingly visible.
Numenera ispost-apocalyptic, but does include punk elements by having authoritarian medieval European-style governments and a reliance on sustainable technology.
Solarpunk 2050 Is a Solarpunk setting forFate (role-playing game system) published in 2023. Set in the near future, society is being rebuilt after a climate catastrophe. Three factions struggle to agree on the right way to do this.
Fully Automated! is an open-source tabletop RPG set in the 22nd century in a post-scarcity post-capitalist society.
Some, like solarpunk researcher Adam Flynn, worry that solarpunk can risk beinggreenwashed through aesthetics that give the appearance of sustainability without addressing the root causes of actualenvironmental issues.[46] Flynn notes how depictions such as "luxury condos with agreen roof that price out existing communities and might end up doing more environmental damage" is "fake solarpunk urbanism".[47]
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Solarpunk architecture is characterized by combining natural elements with those of human society. It can be exemplified in small abodes that feature windmills or other green, diy off-grid technologies, as well as highly populated urban environments.[48]
Real-life examples of solarpunk architecture include[original research?] theSingapore Botanic Gardens, which are one of only three gardens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site;[49]Italy'sBosco Verticale, which, in 2014, became the world's first oxygen-positive skyscraper;[citation needed] and Bolivia'sNeo-Andean architecture byFreddy Mamani, which has successfully reclaimed traditional designs used by colonized peoples in a forward-thinking, sustainable way.[citation needed][original research?]
For practical inspiration, solarpunk looks to permaculture and Indigenous agriculture, sustainable architecture like Earthships and Arcosanti, as well as the maker movement and DIY culture.
Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question 'what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?'
Solarpunk might be easiest understood as a response to environmental degradation and social conflict that centers hope and possibility rather than futility and despair. It is a relatively new expression and has popped up across genres: in art, literature, and activism.
"Solar" is itself a reference to solar energy, from photovoltaic cells to passive heating—clean, sustainable, renewable energies with minimal carbon footprint. In the darkness of climate anxiety, solarpunk is a beam of hope showing the way toward a livable future.
The 'punk' in Solarpunk is about rebellion, counterculture, post-capitalism, decolonialism and enthusiasm. It is about going in a different direction than the mainstream, which is increasingly going in a scary direction.
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