What to know about Solarpunk, the literary movement that seeks a sustainable way forward

Even as the quest for actionable solutions and tangible support continues, people seek comfort in theories, prophecies and fictional genres. The artistic movement, Solarpunk, offers a way forward to achieve sustainable living while striking a balance between nature and community. Here is what to know.

What is Solarpunk?

Solarpunk is a literary and art movement rooted in science fiction which evaluates what a sustainable civilisation may look like and how we can achieve it.

By most accounts, its origin can be traced to a 2008 blog post titled ‘From Steampunk to Solarpunk’. In honour of the hybrid cargo ship Beluga Skysail’s maiden voyage, the blog’s anonymous author introduced solarpunk as a new literary genre. The blog describes how the shop achieved 20% fuel savings in a two-month trip through its use of a renewable energy source, and makes a case for using “older technology” like solar and wind power instead of fuel-based technology.

The elements of solarpunk are best captured in a 2014 manifesto authored by the Arizona State University’s Project Hieroglyph, an initiative founded by author Neal Stephenson to spur science fiction. “Solarpunk draws on the ideal of Jefferson’s yeoman farmer, Ghandi’s (Gandhi’s) ideal of swadeshi and subsequent Salt March, and countless other traditions of innovative dissent,” it says. According to the manifesto, solarpunk emphasises “ingenuity, generativity, independence, and community.”

The manifesto also acknowledges the evolving nature of the solarpunk aesthetic while expressing it as a combination of 1800s exploration (with more bicycles) and repurposing existing infrastructure and leveraging jugaad-style innovation to make the “best of waste”.

From Punk to Solarpunk

The punk subculture or movement originated in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Teens favoured the movement to show dissent against rising consumerism and express their frustration with prevalent social and political norms. It was best represented in unconventional fashion aesthetics like spiked wristbands, chains and safety pins, leather jackets and ripped jeans. While the punk movement emerged in response to the growing popularity of aggressive and rowdy music genres like rock, it later expanded into fashion, literature and cinema.

The term punk was borrowed from this movement by Bruce Bethke to name his short story titled “Cyberpunk” in the 1980s. Bethke combined the words “cybernetics”, a comparative study of communication methods in humans and electronic devices, and punk to present what would grow into the dystopian sci-fi genre today. Today, cyberpunk is known as a “low-life, high-tech” sci-fi genre, featuring themes of late-stage capitalism, an unequal and unjust society, neon-lit signs, high-rise skyscrapers and high-tech ammunition with exorbitant crime rates. Offshoot subgenres like Steampunk, Biopunk, Dieselpunk and Solarpunk emerged from this.

Solarpunk presents an optimistic counterfoil to the dystopian genre Cyberpunk: a peaceful, harmonious society, green tech systems and an inclusive setup. It features themes of sustainable development, anti-speciesism, multicultural coexistence and an optimistic view of the future, action that can be taken and implemented in the present to realise a secure future.

The Project Hieroglyph Solarpunk manifesto acknowledges this as using “infrastructure as a form of resistance” to “make life more wonderful for us right now, and more importantly for the generations that follow us”.

The animated YouTube short film Dear Alice best reflects the Solarpunk aesthetic. It features sprawling green farms operated with high-tech devices like artificial precipitation, robotic fruit plucking devices, solar panels and flying buses, run by a closely-knit, diverse community of people and robots alike.

Shweta Taneja, author of the Solarpunk short story The Songs that Humanity Lost Reluctantly to Dolphins told The Indian Express, “What I like about writing Solarpunk is that it is optimistic without being escapist. It critically engages with modern lifestyle challenges like climate emergency, political upheaval and a dystopian point of view, and presents an alternative – built on sustainable practices, technological advances and major shifts in societal mindset. It gives us hope for our future, which I think we need today.”

The Solarpunk aesthetic in media

Solarpunk has been featured in movies, video games, books, architecture and infrastructure.

In the world of fiction, Solarpunk is represented in books like The Monk & Robot series by Becky Chambers and The Glass and Gardens series by Sarena Ulibarri.

Studio Ghibli films like Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle also feature a version of the solarpunk aesthetic.

Dehradun-based artist Chahat Bavanya has embraced the solarpunk aesthetic in his digital art. His upcoming video game, Silkgrove, is based in a post-apocalyptic world following a war between humans and machines. “Annie, a scrapper, navigates this world with her small vehicle and a companion pet, aiding in the reconstruction efforts using eco-friendly resources. It’s a fantasy world deeply rooted in the possibilities of our current environment rather than distant future technologies,” he told The Indian Express.

In our daily reality, initiatives like solar power, wind power, electric vehicles, use of sustainable materials, infusing local practices with technology and advocating for equality and justice are the baby steps towards a Solarpunk world.

Solarpunk in India

Author and independent climate educator Rajat Chaudhary connected the solarpunk aesthetic to Gandhian principles and reflected on current interventions. “Gandhian ideas, which seeded the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, is a supportive framework which can nurture solarpunk style interventions in sustainable agriculture, alternative energy, resource conservation including water and land, and decentralised decision-making,” he told The Indian Express.

Chaudhary also pointed to the immense potential for “learning from the wealth of indigenous people’s knowledge and practices which are generally environment and climate-friendly.” This has a precedent in the inclusion of sustainable practices in many of its cultures. From the recognition of sacred groves and species, which have guided many of India’s environmental movements, to the concept of “jugaad”, repurposing waste from available resources, the potential is boundless.

Chaudhary’s upcoming book, Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet, is a collection of fast-paced stories highlighting the importance of living in harmony with nature and nonhumans through the use of renewables, sustainable materials, rewilding, forest conservation and community action.

At the same time, a limited mindset and normative ideas of development deeply conflict with the practices of sustainable living.

“There’s a conception that ‘modern’ means shying away from anything that is sustainable,” Tashan Mehta, author of the book Solarpunk Creatures, said. “‘Luxury’ for us often means excess, and luxury is, of course, aspirational, with progress measured by how much excess you can gather. It circles a narrative that looks only at the individual, rather than the collective. There’s danger in this type of thinking, for us and for the world.”

Shrisha Bhardwaj interned with The Indian Express.