No description available.

I en värld som pressas allt hårdare av människans utarmning av naturresurser är behovet av förändring större än någonsin. Nya alternativa hållbara levnadsätt där både beslutsfattare och civilsamhället driver utvecklingen är avgörande för hur människan kan leva ett liv inom planetens resursgränser. En utstakad väg mot ett sådant levnadssätt kan påstås finns rakt framför våra ögon. Ekobyar uppkom som en del av den gröna vågen på 1970-talet som en motreaktion på den starka urbaniseringen och det rådande kapitalistiska systemet. Ett system som bygger på att den tillväxtorienterade fria marknaden har svaren på de klimatrelaterad problem som vi står inför. Ekobyar framställs som en mer hållbar väg då de ställer sig mot dessa marknadsprinciper och verkar för hållbara metoder genom lokal matproduktion, energisnåla bostadshus, sociala gemensamhetsytor och en hög grad av naturkontakt. Studien avser därför att undersöka hur detta hållbara levnadssätt visualiseras och praktiseras, samt drivkrafterna bakom dessa bosättningars uppkomst. För att studera detta fenomen har två olika ekobyar i södra Sverige valts ut. Dem båda har varit etablerade sedan en tid tillbaka men skiljer sig en aning gällande aktörer som drivit projekten i dess planeringsfas. För att få en inblick i hur de boende i respektive ekoby lever under hållbarhetens fana har kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med fyra olika personer. I samband med intervjuerna har även platsbesök gjorts i dem båda ekobyarna då två av intervjuerna genomförts i respondenternas bostad. Avslutningsvis vill studien mena att ovärderlig kunskap kring hållbara levnadssätt finns inom dessa bosättningar, däremot behöver denna kunskap uppmärksammas, utnyttjas och breddas i större utsträckning. / In a world increasingly pressurised by human depletion of natural resources, the need for change is greater than ever. New alternative sustainable lifestyles, driven by both policy makers and civil society, are crucial to how humans can live within the planet's resource limits. A pathway to such a way of life is arguably right before our eyes. Eco-villages emerged as part of the green wave in the 1970s as a counter-reaction to rapid urbanization and the prevailing capitalist system. A system based on the belief that the growth-oriented free market has the answers to the climate-related problems we face. Eco-villages are presented as a more sustainable path as they oppose these market principles and promote sustainable practices through local food production, energy-efficient housing, social community spaces and a high degree of contact with nature. The study therefore intends to investigate how this sustainable way of life is visualized and practiced, as well as the driving forces behind the emergence of these settlements. To study this phenomenon, two different eco-villages in southern Sweden have been selected. Both have been established for some time but differ slightly in terms of actors who have driven the projects in their planning phase. To gain an insight into how the residents of each eco-village live under the banner of sustainability, qualitative semi-structured interviews have been conducted with four different people. In connection with the interviews, site visits have also been made to both eco-villages, as two of the interviews were conducted in the respondents' homes. In conclusion, the study argue that invaluable knowledge about sustainable lifestyles exists within these settlements, however, this knowledge needs to be recognised, utilised and broadened to a greater extent.

Steampunk first appeared in the 1980s as a subgenre of science fiction, featuring anachronistic technologies with a veneer of Victorian sensibilities. In recent years steampunk has re-emerged in young adult science fiction as a fresh and dynamic subgenre, which includes titles such as The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross, The Hunchback Assignment by Arthur Slade, and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. Like their predecessors, these modern steampunk novels for teens use retrofuturistic historiography and innovative mechanical aesthetics to dramatize the volatile relationship between man and technology, only in these novels the narrative is intentionally set in the context of their teen protagonist's social and emotional development. However, didactic conventions such as technophobia and the formulaic linearity of the bildungsroman narrative complicate and frustrate steampunk's representation of adolescent formation. Using case studies of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia, retrofuturism and technological hybridity are presented as defining features of steampunk that subvert young adult science fiction's technophobic and liberal humanist traditions. The dirigible and the automaton are examined as the quintessential tropes of steampunk fiction that reproduce the necessary amphibious quality, invoking new expressions and understanding of adolescent growth and identity formation that have a distinctly utopian, nostalgic, and ecocentric undertone.

In this paper, I explore the emerging genre of Ecotopian fiction, which envisions alternative societal structures through an environmental or ecological lens. Examining two seminal works, Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future (2020) and Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia (1975), I investigate how these ecotopian narratives contribute to progressive ideologies on resource management, shedding light on the environmental requirements of utopia. Applying Darko Suvin's methodology to analyse the utopian framework in both novels, my reading of the works demonstrates that Callenbach's Ecotopia offers a confined utopian vision while Ministry for the Future employs a narrative approach that encompasses multiple possible utopian horizons. This adaptation of the Ecotopian framework serves to reimagine and reassess our strategies for addressing climate challenges within the complexities of the global economy. My argument draws from Booker and Daraiseh reading of Ministry for the Future which posits that the dialogic elements within Robinson's work foster reader engagement, prompting consideration of diverse perspectives and possibilities. Moreover, the polyphony of narrators in the Ministry for the Future facilitates a detachment of climate resolutions from Western-centric perspectives and from the perspective of one person - an imperative step towards the necessary global system change. As agents shaping potential worlds, ecotopian writers must articulate new economic systems in a manner that resonates with readers, fostering integration of these concepts into the collective consciousness. I contend that, to endure impending challenges, it is essential to continue developing the ecotopian horizon, exploring variations on ecological economies and that is best done through a multi-voiced approach. This ongoing effort is crucial to ensure the survival of future generations, empowering them to contribute to their own narratives of ecotopia.