The series of Trafo >< Lectures tackles diverse theoretical and practical aspects of emancipatory social-ecological transformation, and what design can contribute to it. In case you have no idea what these strange terms really mean, the lecture serious is for you, because this is exactly what it is trying to answer.
Trafo >< Lecture 1: UTOPIAING ⥁ Imagining the desirable, preenacting it, and making it real
Mo, 14.10.2024, 17:30, Unibz, Atelier F4.06 – Project 3, open to all
Apocalyptic fiction, dystopian science fiction, serious reports and publications on multiple crises and worse disasters to come, plus news on terrible things all the time, create an atmosphere of fear, hopelessness, and powerlessness. While “smart” futures of tech-driven convenience and control are created and heavily propagated – hiding that this very probably leads to convenience and control for the elites only. At the same time, narrations and imaginaries from nationalist and extreme right forces are gaining more and more traction. They offer oversimplified and dangerous but for many people attractive answers to the crises and (presumed) threats, and to the feeling of loss and fear going along with it. Where are the narrations, imaginaries and practices of good life for all? Activists, storytellers, researchers, moviemakers, designers, and artists together with all kinds of engaged people can co-create concrete utopias of solidary and sustainable societies, which are inspiring and motivating. They can co-create situations, where people can imagine, experience and experiment such futures. Positive future trajectories motivate, reinstall hope and the ability to “do something” now.
The talk frames the issue and illustrates it with case studies focussing on local actions in rural and urban areas. It compiles diverse kinds of stories, images, interventions, practices, infrastructures, and policies that nourish positive futures. This includes elements deriving from popular culture, such as music, movies, TV series and video clips. The power of such media formats cannot be overestimated, and therefore should be considered both as a source of inspiration and as an instrument in moving towards positive futures.
A point is made on the pitfalls of utopias as ideal societies. I argue to see utopian imaginaries, narrations, and practices not as perfect models, but as attractive possibilities and positive attractors. I analyse approaches, means and practices of the presented cases, and correlate them to theories and intellectual discourse on positive future visions and actions referring to diverse authors such as Ernst Bloch, Emma Goldman, Michel Foucault, Carl Boggs, Erik Olin Wright, Ruth Levitas, Uwe Schneidewind, Harald Welzer, Brigitte Kratzwald, Friederike Habermann, I.L.A. Kollektiv, Stefan Meretz und Simon Sutterlütti.
Finally, from all this, I try to derive practical rules of thumb for utopiaing. These are not thought of as recipes, but rather as a checklist, which can be useful when using utopiaing as a method for imagining and enacting futures.
Utopia shapes the present and vice versa.