Green discourse is no longer produced solely by governments, parliaments, and public authorities. Contemporary socio-environmental movements inspired by concepts such as degrowth, transition, relocalization, Buen Vivir/Vivir Bien, the commons, occupy, and environmental justice share the aim of imagining and practicing alternative futures. These movements have historical roots in critiques and movements of earlier decades, but in the wake of the current social, ecological and economic crises and the non-arrival of promised “green growth,” their messages are gaining strength.
For new societal arrangements to materialize, new concepts, dreams, imaginaries, and experiments are needed to make the impossible take concrete form and become possible. In an era of political resignation when potential controversies have been transformed into matters of lifestyle, “the utopian spirit remains more necessary than ever” (Jacoby, 1999) in order to articulate more inclusive and less violent futures. And, given the urgency of present crises, for many that future needs to be now. This also demands that researches focus the analytical lenses through which current society, politics, and practices can be scrutinized, and explore the potential of green utopian imaginaries.
