Solarpunk: On Speculative Education
Impossible Dreaming: On Speculative Education Fiction and Hopeful Learning Futures is a paper by Shandell Houlden and George Veletsianos from the School of Technology and Education at Royal Roads University. The paper is divided into several key sections:
Introduction
Speculative Research Methods in Education
Radical Imagination and the Power of Story
The Stories that Dominate
Hopeful Stories and the Creation of Hopeful Futures
Learning from and with Hopeful Fiction Genres
A Concluding Call
In this post, I’ll briefly summarize each section and conclude by discussing the most important insights for the Solarpunk community, the focus of my research this semester.
In the Introduction, Houlden and Veletsianos reflect on the challenges facing the education system in a post-COVID world. The pandemic created widespread instability, and many argue that a return to the pre-pandemic, status-quo of 2019 is undesirable given the inherent inequalities and unsustainable practices embedded in those systems, often driven by capitalist and colonialist agendas. Houlden and Veletsianos suggest that what’s needed now is a more speculative approach to education research and storytelling—specifically, a shift toward hopeful speculative education.
In the Speculative Research Methods in Education section, the authors argue that while speculative research and fiction often focus on the future, these imagined futures can actively shape the present. They write, “Imagined possibilities of futures so impact the way we behave in the present that futures are indeed made manifest now” (2022). In this sense, fiction and speculation are not just about predicting the future but influencing how we act today. The authors call for greater space for speculation in education, valuing imagination as a critical tool.
The next section, Radical Imagination and the Power of Story, explores the concept of Radical Imagination, which involves envisioning a world unrestrained by existing social and political structures—imagining what could be instead of what is. Radical Imagination is a communal process, where people collaborate to design systems that better meet societal needs. Houlden and Veletsianos emphasize that stories play a central role in this imaginative process. As they put it, “Stories are not just objects to think with, or data for analysis, but are, in fact, the place where we meet and create ourselves, each other, and the world” (2022). Stories, they argue, are never neutral; they shape how we see and engage with the world, making it crucial to be intentional about the stories we tell.
In The Stories that Dominate, the authors analyze the speculative education fiction that exists today to determine what kinds of stories are being told and how they influence the future of education. After reviewing thirteen papers and one book, they found that the majority of these speculative works paint a pessimistic view of the future, with only two categorized as hopeful. They concluded that many current stories reflect themes of disconnection and despair rather than optimism and community.
In the section on Hopeful Stories and the Creation of Hopeful Futures, Houlden and Veletsianos argue that there is an ethical imperative to imagine hopeful futures for education. They assert that “given the power of story, it is necessary to be intentional to create fictions that generously invite hope through imagining hopeful futures” (2022). They warn against the ease of imagining dystopian or pessimistic futures, as these narratives contribute to a growing sense of “doomerism.” Instead, they call for stories that inspire action toward a brighter tomorrow.
The paper then introduces three key genres of speculative fiction that foster hope: Hopepunk, Solarpunk, and Visionary Fiction. Each genre invites hope in different ways. Hopepunk emphasizes kindness and optimism as a form of resistance, Solarpunk focuses on degrowth and dismantling colonial legacies, and Visionary Fiction imagines a world without prisons, poverty, or inequality, highlighting Black and Indigenous voices.
In the final section, A Concluding Call, Houlden and Veletsianos reiterate the need for education research to engage in the hard work of imagining hopeful futures. They believe that by disseminating stories of hope, we can inspire people to take action and create real, positive change.
Chobani (2021, July). Dear Alice. The Line. https://youtu.be/z-Ng5ZvrDm4
Insights for the Solarpunk Community
This paper’s call for hopeful speculative fiction is deeply relevant to the Solarpunk community. Solarpunk, as discussed in my earlier posts, imagines a future grounded in community, sustainability, and degrowth—a world where modern technology coexists with diverse cultural and ecological systems. Houlden and Veletsianos emphasize the importance of stories in shaping our collective futures, and Solarpunk thrives on the idea that stories, whether cultural, historical, or fictional, are essential to understanding and building better societies.
In a Solarpunk future, knowledge is decentralized, and a wide range of information—beyond traditional academic and institutional forms—is valued. This includes Indigenous knowledge, folk wisdom, and other non-colonial forms of storytelling and learning. The emphasis on diverse, non-hierarchical knowledge systems in Solarpunk aligns with Houlden and Veletsianos’ vision of an education system that embraces speculation, hope, and radical imagination.
Storytelling, in this context, becomes not just a tool for entertainment or education but a crucial means of envisioning and building the future. As Solarpunk envisions a society where humans act as stewards of the planet, these stories provide a blueprint for rethinking our relationships with each other and the Earth.
Houlden, S., & Veletsianos, G. (2022, October 5). Impossible dreaming: On speculative education fiction and hopeful learning futures. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00348-7
