{"id":4209,"date":"2025-01-05T17:33:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T22:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/?page_id=4209"},"modified":"2025-10-04T12:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T16:40:21","slug":"january-16-science-fiction-and-how-we-imagine-climate-futures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/january-16-science-fiction-and-how-we-imagine-climate-futures\/","title":{"rendered":"January 16: Science Fiction and How We Imagine Climate Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4252\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1728\" height=\"2304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025.jpg 1728w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-240x320.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-400x533.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-160x213.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-360x480.jpg 360w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/wp-content\/uploads\/01.16.2025-200x267.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1728px) 100vw, 1728px\" \/>Often science fiction depicts the climate future as unlivable, or as barely survivable only through an intensification of \u201ccapitalist realism\u201d \u2013 everything is for sale, only the rich have access to technologies sufficient for minimal comfort, and Earth ecologies are in continual free-fall or already destroyed in service of profit. In this conversation, we discuss science fictional imaginings of livable collective futures. We put two recent texts (Ruthanna Emrys\u2019s A Half-Built Garden and M.E. O\u2019Brien and Eman Abdelhabi\u2019s Everything for Everyone) in conversation with an older non-dystopian imaginary (\u201cP.M\u201d\u2019s bolo\u2019bolo).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Alexis Shotwell<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> is theory and science fiction fan, functional potter, and she bike rides in all weather. Alexis has been part of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton since 2012 and cross-appointed to Philosophy and the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women\u2019s and Gender Studies. <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Kilian J\u00f6rg<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> is a philosopher and artist based in Vienna and Berlin whose research focuses on ecological epistemology and the intersection of art and philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Actions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Read widely and fully.<\/li>\n<li>Engage in collaborative projects (like book clubs or reading groups) that bring together diverse perspectives.<\/li>\n<li>Consider participating in imaginative exercises like writing prompts or drawing\/art prompts.<\/li>\n<li>Engage in activities that work to imagine alternative futures (Buy Nothing Groups, Clothing\/Item Swaps, Repair Cafes).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Resource List<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Books:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>A Half-Built Garden<\/i>, Ruthanna Emrys<\/li>\n<li><i>Everything For Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072<\/i>, M. E. O\u2019Brien and Eman Abdelhadi<\/li>\n<li><i>Bolo\u2019Bolo<\/i>, Hans Widmer<\/li>\n<li><i>Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times,\u00a0<\/i>Alexis Shotwell<\/li>\n<li><i>Knowing Otherwise: Race, Gender, and Implicit Understanding,\u00a0<\/i>Alexis Shotwell<\/li>\n<li><i>Ecological Reasonings<\/i>, Killian Jorg<\/li>\n<li><i>Toxicity Temple: An Artistic and Philosophical Adventure into the Toxicity of Now<\/i>, Killian Jorg<\/li>\n<li><i>Not Too Late<\/i>, Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua; Specifically: \u201cLooking back from the future: 2023 from 2073\u201d by Denali sai nalamalapu<\/li>\n<li><i>Parable of the Sower<\/i>, Octavia E. Butler<\/li>\n<li><i>Tentacle<\/i>, Rita Indiana<\/li>\n<li><i>The Water Knife<\/i>, Paolo Bacigalupi<\/li>\n<li><i>The Ministry for the Future<\/i>, Kim Stanely Robinson<\/li>\n<li><i>Letters from the Future: How New Brunswickers Confronted Climate Change and Redefined Progress<\/i>, Edited by Daniel Tubb, Abram Lutes, Susan O\u2019Donnell<\/li>\n<li><i>Emergent Strategy: Shaping Climate Changing Worlds<\/i>, adrienne maree brown<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Journal Articles:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>J\u00f6rg, K. Messy utopianism and the question of war: What does \u201cstaying with the trouble\u201d mean in relation to war?\u00a0<i>WLS<\/i>\u00a016, 18\u201328 (2024).<\/li>\n<li>Shotwell, A. Building Complicity with Another World.\u00a0<i>Parallax<\/i>\u00a029, 364\u2013385 (2023).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Articles:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u><a id=\"OWAbc94ce0f-e551-19c0-215d-9fb98a48a636\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"Original URL: https:\/\/arrow-journal.org\/survival-will-always-be-insufficient-but-its-a-good-place-to-start\/. Click or tap if you trust this link.\" href=\"https:\/\/arrow-journal.org\/survival-will-always-be-insufficient-but-its-a-good-place-to-start\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"Verified\" data-linkindex=\"0\">Shotwell, A. Survival Will Always Be Insufficient, but It\u2019s a Good Place to Start. The Arrow (2020).<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><u><a id=\"OWA808e1063-2ad4-fbb6-77cf-81238a9d76fc\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"Original URL: https:\/\/endnotes.org.uk\/posts\/forest-and-factory. Click or tap if you trust this link.\" href=\"https:\/\/endnotes.org.uk\/posts\/forest-and-factory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"Verified\" data-linkindex=\"2\">Neel, P. A. &amp; Chavez, N. Forest and Factory: The Science and the Fiction of Communism. Endnotes.<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Video:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u><a id=\"OWA2500aba4-9c30-322d-2ac4-a97a7d6fd534\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"Original URL: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-JeIUSVTrpg&amp;ab_channel=Andrewism. Click or tap if you trust this link.\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-JeIUSVTrpg&amp;ab_channel=Andrewism&amp;themeRefresh=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"Verified\" data-linkindex=\"3\">Can This Book Save Us From Dystopia? (In reference to Bolo&#8217;Bolo), Andrewism<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Websites:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u><a id=\"OWAdc7e256c-161e-af28-30cf-614f50239cf5\" class=\"x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"Original URL: https:\/\/www.kilianj.org\/. Click or tap if you trust this link.\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kilianj.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"Verified\" data-linkindex=\"1\">https:\/\/www.kilianj.org\/<\/a><\/u>, Killian\u2019s Website. A resource for his books and performance art.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Often science fiction depicts the climate future as unlivable, or as barely survivable only through an intensification of \u201ccapitalist realism\u201d \u2013 everything is for sale, only the rich have access to technologies sufficient for minimal comfort, and Earth ecologies are in continual free-fall or already destroyed in service of profit. In this conversation, we discuss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>January 16: Science Fiction and How We Imagine Climate Futures - Carleton Climate Commons Working Group\u200b<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Often science fiction depicts the climate future as unlivable, or as barely survivable only through an intensification of \u201ccapitalist realism\u201d \u2013\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/january-16-science-fiction-and-how-we-imagine-climate-futures\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/january-16-science-fiction-and-how-we-imagine-climate-futures\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/climatecommons\/january-16-science-fiction-and-how-we-imagine-climate-futures\/\",\"name\":\"January 16: Science Fiction and How We Imagine Climate Futures - 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