Against Dystopias with Ecological Literacy

Boehnert, Joanna; Alexander, Alistair; Sinclair, Matt

Abstract

The longstanding dismissal of the ecological in civilisations that have developed dramatic ecology-altering and planetary boundary crossing technologies is at the crux of contemporary planetary polycrisis. Desirable and even viable futures depend on the design of new ways of living on the planet based on understanding humans in dynamic entanglement with the more-than-human context. Prioritising ecological relations is a fundamental break with assumptions of modernity and associated technologies, social practices, and future visions. We bring design and ecological knowledge together to describe foundational work in designing transitions to Ecocene Protopias, i.e., places of continuous ecological transition. As our springboard, we identify defuturing work in particular formulations of utopian thought. By describing future visions that accelerate ecological harms, we draw attention to the ecology-denying assumptions underlying techno-utopian stories and ideologies. This paper presents ecological literacy as a foundational critical and imaginative capacity to avoid dystopias emerging from traditions that dismiss the ecological. Sustainable and regenerative design practice depends on bolstering designers’ ecological literacies to enable more effective collective reimagining and redesigning future ways of living within planetary boundaries.

Citation

Boehnert, J., Alexander, A., & Sinclair, M. (2024). Against Dystopias with Ecological Literacy. Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación, 222(27), 39-63. https://doi.org/10.18682/cdc.vi222.11202

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 14, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 13, 2024
• Publication Date: May 13, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 4, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 5, 2024
• Journal: Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios en Diseño y Comunicación
• Print ISSN: 1668-0227
• Electronic ISSN: 1853-3523
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 222
• Issue: 27
• Pages: 39-63
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.18682/cdc.vi222.11202
• Keywords: Ecological Literacy, Protopia, TESCREAL, Transition Design, Dystopia, Ecocene, Polycene , Accelerationism , Futures
• Publisher URL: https://dspace.palermo.edu/ojs/index.php/cdc/article/view/11202