Imaging the (Eco)Future: Ecotopian Thought in an Age of Climate Breakdown

This interdisciplinary study investigates the place and function of ecotopian thought in contemporary climate change discourse and in ecocritical theory. Interdisciplinary ecocritical analysis will establish where ecotopian depictions of the future exist in British and North American climate change discourse, why they appear where they do, and what factors contribute to the widespread absence of ecotopian imagery and thought within depictions of humanity’s future in an age of climate crisis. An interdisciplinary ecocritical analysis of contemporary climate change discourse will be situated within a longer cultural history of ecotopian thought from the mid-twentieth century, in a monograph titled A Cultural History of Ecotopia. The study will also use collaborative, research-led public engagement to assess what the benefits might be of encouraging imaginative engagements with ideas of ecotopia, for both research innovation and for promoting widespread engagement with climate change and sustainable development.