2021, Planet Earth is on fire, yet we are suffering a crisis of collective imagination: our technologies have advanced, but our culture has lagged behind. Science Fiction wields a powerful, often negative and exclusionary influence over real-world scientific/technological research, sociopolitical development, and the way we design, build and live. Protopia is a recalibrated, inclusive framework for the future wherein technological progress is accompanied by humanitarian evolution, beyond colonial binaries of Dystopia/Utopia, eschewing the perspectives of historic privilege & rather centering experiences of marginalization, at the intersection of queerness, indigeneity, and disability. Monika Bielskyte’s talk will explore the new horizons of contextual & participatory futures design enriched by examples from her research in 90+ countries and focused on the emergent youth movements & subcultures.
