When we feel politically helpless, we turn to ‘subversive’ entertainment. But winning within the realm of pop culture is a poor substitute for political power.
Archived version: https://archive.is/IuhnQ
When we feel politically helpless, we turn to ‘subversive’ entertainment. But winning within the realm of pop culture is a poor substitute for political power.
Archived version: https://archive.is/IuhnQ
I see your point. Well put.
Actually, thinking about this some more there is probabaly a need for both, this article (and the climate crisis documentaries) - because not everyone has thought about this for years (and whatched hundreds of tgese documentaries) but also media about either people trying to fight climate crisis / fascism or practical tipps on how to do so and I feel like they are a not a lot of those … (I might be wrong about that, I dont know?)
No, I agree with you. The biggest amount of work in regards to fighting climate crisis, fascism and creating resilient social structures is done on the fringes of society and hence rarely mentioned outside equally fringe publications. While people can learn a lot by joining solidarity networks, their work is often (in my experience) scrappy and inconsistent, because even they are lacking knowledge. Besides the need to balance their own interests with the demands of the capitalist society around them.
I see a big potential for art in that space: Spreading knowledge and positives visions of a livable future without being overly dry and preachy. The Solarpunk genre serves this purpose to a certain degree, but - I think - it isn’t hard to introduce similar concepts into other genres, if done with respect, conviction and a basic curiosity to learn from others.
Yeah, Solarpunk, Hopepunk, utopias and positive visions of the future in general; now that they seem farer and more “unrelastic” every day we need them more then ever (and mainstream entertainment is full of the opposite, apocalypse and dystopia everywhere). Thanks for posting the link to that article and your comment 😸
My pleasure.