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Rough Guides and Carbon Ruins : The Role of Sf (Studies) in the (Re)Construction of Decarbonized Futures

Raven, Paul Graham LU orcid (2023) In Extrapolation 64(1). p.11-31
Abstract

This essay asks scholars to overcome the disciplinary divides between the humanities on the one side and the social sciences on the other in order to imagine hopeful future alternatives to petromodernity. This collaboration can only be effective if both sides are open to it, which is why I suggest leveraging speculative design as a means to bridging the disciplines. Speculative design not only unlocks avenues for generating impact outside academia that funding institutions demand but also allows for meta-theoretical self-reflection. I present two examples of such design fictions: a vision of a largely decarbonized European city in the mid-2040s and a future museum in which traces of late twentieth-/early twenty-first-century oil culture... (More)

This essay asks scholars to overcome the disciplinary divides between the humanities on the one side and the social sciences on the other in order to imagine hopeful future alternatives to petromodernity. This collaboration can only be effective if both sides are open to it, which is why I suggest leveraging speculative design as a means to bridging the disciplines. Speculative design not only unlocks avenues for generating impact outside academia that funding institutions demand but also allows for meta-theoretical self-reflection. I present two examples of such design fictions: a vision of a largely decarbonized European city in the mid-2040s and a future museum in which traces of late twentieth-/early twenty-first-century oil culture are on display. These two examples showcase how methods and theories from the arts and humanities can be applied in "the real world" to reconfigure imaginaries.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Extrapolation
volume
64
issue
1
pages
21 pages
publisher
Liverpool University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85161285658
ISSN
0014-5483
DOI
10.3828/extr.2023.3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Liverpool University Press. All rights reserved.
id
ebffe77a-938b-4e6e-90dd-c22808068b03
date added to LUP
2026-06-03 13:58:56
date last changed
2026-06-03 14:00:00
@article{ebffe77a-938b-4e6e-90dd-c22808068b03,
  abstract     = {{<p>This essay asks scholars to overcome the disciplinary divides between the humanities on the one side and the social sciences on the other in order to imagine hopeful future alternatives to petromodernity. This collaboration can only be effective if both sides are open to it, which is why I suggest leveraging speculative design as a means to bridging the disciplines. Speculative design not only unlocks avenues for generating impact outside academia that funding institutions demand but also allows for meta-theoretical self-reflection. I present two examples of such design fictions: a vision of a largely decarbonized European city in the mid-2040s and a future museum in which traces of late twentieth-/early twenty-first-century oil culture are on display. These two examples showcase how methods and theories from the arts and humanities can be applied in "the real world" to reconfigure imaginaries.</p>}},
  author       = {{Raven, Paul Graham}},
  issn         = {{0014-5483}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{11--31}},
  publisher    = {{Liverpool University Press}},
  series       = {{Extrapolation}},
  title        = {{Rough Guides and Carbon Ruins : The Role of Sf (Studies) in the (Re)Construction of Decarbonized Futures}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/extr.2023.3}},
  doi          = {{10.3828/extr.2023.3}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}