Solarpunk Canon

Last updated: July 31, 2021

Back in 2018, I remember the a16z Crypto Canon was a helpful and inspiring resource for anyone curious about crypto. I'd like to gather a similar collection of books, essays, and films for people exploring Solarpunk today.

Many of these I've already shared or written about on the Solarpunk Substack newsletter, but I thought it would be helpful to put them all in one place for easy sharing.

Books

The Earthseed series (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) by Octavia Butler

The Mars trilogy (especially Green Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Pacific Edge (the third of the Three Californias series) by Kim Stanley Robinson

Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China's Countryside by Xiaowei Wang

Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin

Always Coming Home by Ursula K Le Guin

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Films

Black Panther (specifically the city of Wakanda)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (also read the Nausicaä anime that was the precursor to the film)

Eat today, feed tomorrow (ad for Chobani, made by The LINE studio)

Backyard Aquaponics Farming Fresh Fish and Vegetables with Charles Collins by PARAGRAPHIC

Play New: Tomorrow (ad for Nike from Tokyo Olympics 2020)

Essays

Solarpunk: Post-Industrial Design and Aesthetics by Eric Hunting and illustrated by Dustin Jacobus

The Turnaround by Charlie Jane Anders

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford

Solarpunk: Notes towards a manifesto by Adam Flynn

Paracity by Marco Casagrande

Off The Grid Guide by Hundred Rabbits

Low-tech Magazine (especially How to Build a Low-tech Internet and Reinventing the Greenhouse)

Other

Countryside, The Future by Rem Koolhaas and AMO (you can also read the catalog from the exhibit)

Dustin Jacobus (@solarpunkart)