Solarpunk

Names

• Solarpunk
• Solar Punk

Origin

• The term "solarpunk" was first coined in a blog post called "From Steampunk to Solarpunk" in May 2008 by an anonymous author.

Definitions

• The "punk" part of solarpunk comes from its roots in counter-culture and other types of "alternate futurisms" like cyberpunk and steampunk, while the "solar" part refers to the use of solar energy and an overall eco-aesthetic, and the imagery of sunlight as a symbol of hope.
• It often includes Art Nouveau, ecological and eco-feminist aesthetics.
• Adam Flynn describes Solarpunk as including:
  • 1800s age-of-sail/frontier living (but with more bicycles)
  • Creative reuse of existing infrastructure (sometimes post-apocalyptic, sometimes present-weird)
  • Jugaad-style innovation from the developing world
  • High-tech backends with simple, elegant outputs
• Many solarpunk writings reference the films of Miyazaki as early influences.
• The genre came together via the blogging platforms Tumblr and Medium.

Artists and Creators

• Vincent Callebaut
• Olivia Louise
• Luc Schuiten

Curators, Theorists and Researchers

• Adam Flynn
• Andrew Dana Hudson
• KD Hume
• T.X. Watson

Films, Short Films, Series

• Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984.

Publications

Magazines, Journals, Blogs

• Solarpunks.net, Tumblr blog with open submissions.
• Solarpunks, Medium Publication with submissions, 2016-.
• Solarpunk Press

Videos, Podcasts, Radio

• "What Is Solarpunk?", Andrewism, Youtube, December 16 2020.
• "In Defense of Disney’s Strange Solarpunk World", PopCultureDetective, Youtube, May 01 2023.
• "Solarpunk Prompts", Podcast, 2023-.

Essays, Articles, Book Chapters

• Adam Flynn, "Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto", September 04 2014.

• Andrew Dana Hudson, "On the Political Dimensions of Solarpunk", Medium.com, October 15 2015.

• Jay Springett, "SOLARPUNK : A REFERENCE GUIDE", Medium.com, Feb 26 2017.

• Nicola K Smith, "What is solarpunk and can it help save the planet?", BBC.com, August 03 2021.

• Alejandro Rivero-Vadillo, "Challenging Solarpunk’s Technophilia through Degrowth Imaginaries in Julia K. Patt’s “Caught Root” and Linda Jordan’s “Reclaiming”, ECOCENE: CAPPADOCIA JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES, Volume 3/Issue 1/June 2022.

• Sage Agee, "A Future Dream: How solarpunk helped alleviate my existential dread.", Earth Island Journal, Spring 2023.

Theses

• Tatjana Razaghi, "Exploring Ecotopian Futures: Solarpunk Narratives and their Multifaceted Modes of Engagement", Masters Thesis for Karl-Franzens-Universität, Graz, 2019.

• Emma Gilliam, "Petro Pasts and Solar Futures: An Exploration of Critical, Creative, and Activist Solarpunk Discourse", Honor Scholar Thesis for DePauw University, 2023.

See Also

Futurisms, Worlding, Re-Worlding, Wilding and Re-Wilding, Afrofuturism, Global South Futurisms, South Asian Futurisms, Amazofuturism, Post Western, Tropical Futurism, Decolonization