Solarpunk is the speculative fiction genre that replaced dystopian doom with solar panels, community gardens, and radical hope. A complete introduction to the genre's origins, subgenres, key writers — Becky Chambers, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nnedi Okorafor, Ursula Le Guin — and how it compares to science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and horror.
@tinker@poVoq
As a botanist, I know that there is guidance from the world of fields and forests. Plant communities are changing and replacing one another all of the time, in a dynamic mosaic we know as ecological succession. Far from the stereotype of the “forest primeval,” plant communities are constantly in flux. From a bird’s-eye view, the “unbroken forest” is in fact a patchwork of stands of different ages and experience. [1/n]
@tinker@poVoq
Fires, landslides, floods, windstorms, outbreaks of insects, disease, and disasters of human origin disrupt the green blanket in unpredictable ways—and yet with a somewhat predictable response. Oftentimes a major disturbance that clears the former forest creates a gap, with full sun, disturbed soil, and plenty of resources, since the previous inhabitants are now gone. [2/n]
@tinker@poVoq
Such places are colonized by fast-growing species in high density, trying to take advantage of the transitory conditions. These pioneer species are opportunists, with traits that consume resources, crowd out others, and reproduce like crazy. It’s all “me, me, me,” investing only in their own exponential growth with no regard for the future, their relatives, or longevity. Sound familiar? [3/n]
@tinker@poVoq
It’s a field of fast-growing weeds, or a stand of aspens. It’s as if Euromericans, in the age of colonization and displacement of “old-growth cultures” are behaving like colonizing plants after a massive disturbance, dominating the landscape. But those colonizing plants find they cannot continue this rate of growth and resource extraction. They start to run out of resources, disease may attack the overdense populations, and competition begins to limit their growth. [4/n]
@tinker@poVoq
In fact, their behavior facilitates their own replacement. Their rampant growth captures nutrients and builds the more stable conditions in which their followers can flourish. Incrementally, they start to be replaced.
The ones who come next are different, growing more slowly in a resource-limited world. Stressful conditions incentivize nurturing relations of cooperation alongside competition. [5/n]
@tinker@poVoq
The extractive practices of the colonists must be replaced with reciprocity and replenishment if anyone is to survive. Investing in persistence, the new inhabitants are in it for the long haul. These communities have been called “mature” and sustainable, in contrast to the adolescent behavior of their predecessors. [6/n]
@tinker @poVoq
As a botanist, I know that there is guidance from the world of fields and forests. Plant communities are changing and replacing one another all of the time, in a dynamic mosaic we know as ecological succession. Far from the stereotype of the “forest primeval,” plant communities are constantly in flux. From a bird’s-eye view, the “unbroken forest” is in fact a patchwork of stands of different ages and experience. [1/n]
@tinker @poVoq
Fires, landslides, floods, windstorms, outbreaks of insects, disease, and disasters of human origin disrupt the green blanket in unpredictable ways—and yet with a somewhat predictable response. Oftentimes a major disturbance that clears the former forest creates a gap, with full sun, disturbed soil, and plenty of resources, since the previous inhabitants are now gone. [2/n]
@tinker @poVoq
Such places are colonized by fast-growing species in high density, trying to take advantage of the transitory conditions. These pioneer species are opportunists, with traits that consume resources, crowd out others, and reproduce like crazy. It’s all “me, me, me,” investing only in their own exponential growth with no regard for the future, their relatives, or longevity. Sound familiar? [3/n]
@tinker @poVoq
It’s a field of fast-growing weeds, or a stand of aspens. It’s as if Euromericans, in the age of colonization and displacement of “old-growth cultures” are behaving like colonizing plants after a massive disturbance, dominating the landscape. But those colonizing plants find they cannot continue this rate of growth and resource extraction. They start to run out of resources, disease may attack the overdense populations, and competition begins to limit their growth. [4/n]
@tinker @poVoq
In fact, their behavior facilitates their own replacement. Their rampant growth captures nutrients and builds the more stable conditions in which their followers can flourish. Incrementally, they start to be replaced.
The ones who come next are different, growing more slowly in a resource-limited world. Stressful conditions incentivize nurturing relations of cooperation alongside competition. [5/n]
@tinker @poVoq
The extractive practices of the colonists must be replaced with reciprocity and replenishment if anyone is to survive. Investing in persistence, the new inhabitants are in it for the long haul. These communities have been called “mature” and sustainable, in contrast to the adolescent behavior of their predecessors. [6/n]