Solarpunk Canon
Last updated: April 11, 2022
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
New York 2140 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
How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm
Small is Beautiful by Ernst F. Schumacher
Industries for Small Communities by Arthur Morgan
The Community of the Future and the Future of Community by Arthur Morgan
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)
The Mondragon Experiment by BBC
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)
New Alchemy Journals by the New Alchemy Institute
Other
Countryside, The Future by Rem Koolhaas and AMO (you can also read the catalog from the exhibit)
Dustin Jacobus (@solarpunkart)