IS IT EASIER TO IMAGINE DYSTOPIAS? CLIMATE CRISIS AND IMAGINING THE FUTURE

Could it be that it is getting harder to imagine a bright future? Think about the recent dystopian TV series and movies you have watched and the novels you have read. Aren’t they very well versed in telling stories of destruction?

On the other hand, it sounds naïve to depict a dream of an optimistic world. Concepts such as peace, harmony and freedom exist mostly as slogans, or rather as wishes. Presenting a holistic, emancipatory model for society seems to be too daring, or too masculine…

Taking the climate crisis as a starting point, this talk will be about how recent historical experiences have shaped our future dreams. At the center of the discussion will be the imagination of social struggles.

Assoc. Dr. Sezai Ozan Zeybek is a human geographer and lecturer at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in Berlin. He has published two books in Turkish; Animals in the Recent History of Turkey: Opening Social Sciences to non-Humans and Talking Through Tales: A Storytelling Guide for Adults. He gives lectures on ecology and social inequalities. He is the host of the ecology podcast, Havadan Sudan, broadcasted on Özgürüz Radio. He also has five children’s books.

Image credit: Serpil Odabaşı

This  talk is part of a film program featuring films about the ecological crisis, colonialism, extractivism, capitalism and the complex relations between them.

KIRIK’s 2022 programs are supported by SAHA as part of the Sustainability Fund 2021-2022.