The campaign is now closed. If you want to attend the event in person, go to http://bit.ly/sfeconlab
What if the future of economics is invented in science fiction?
To discover it, participate in the first Sci-Fi Economics Lab, which will be held on 11 November 2019 in Brussels and on the internet (livestreaming)!
The situation is clear. An economy’s inaction based on its certainties is creating a global deadlock. Permanent micro-adjustments are no longer enough. Fortunately, intellectuals on all sides reject the status quo and imagine more desirable futures. Among them, science fiction authors are now proposing radically new models and shaking up the established order.
To highlight the synergies between SF and the economy, the Edgeryders community supported by EIT Climate-KIC is organising a major day of debates, workshops and celebrations open to all.
- Take part in a large workshop. (14h30 - 16h30) Extinction Rebellion is joining forces with the Sci-Fi Economics Lab to discuss and create positive progress.
- Discuss with figures from SF and the economy. (18h - 20h) Science fiction author Cory Doctorow, economist Tom Bauler, and the CEO of EIT Climate-KIC Kirsten Dunlop discuss how sci-fi and economics can give revamp our ability to rethink our economy.
- Meet with academics to brainstorm topics for academic articles to be published in 2020 (next day at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management.
By contributing to this crowdfunding campaign you do two things:
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Make the Science Fiction Economics Lab possible - We need your support to help cover the costs of organising this year’s edition. If we do manage to meet the crowdfunding goal, then we can continue doing this work and organize more SciFI Econ activities with you.
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Show us, and the world, that you support this effort - If the Sci-Fi Economics Lab is successful, its impact would show in directly influencing the political agenda, at least in Europe. Please do not pass on this opportunity. We may never get another.
What do you get if you contribute to the campaign?
5 € or More - {OUR GRATITUDE} Thank you for coming on board and showing us your support. You get A SPECIAL THANK YOU on the Sci-Fi Economics Lab website, and if you send us your picture, we will put it up on our the event wall so everyone who enjoys the event can say thank you every day!
€10 EUR - {Reduced rate Event ticket} You are tight on cash but really want to come to the physical event in Brussels. Yes, you can come too! We are all in this together. Every single euro helps and we really appreciate your contribution!
€15 EUR: - {Live streaming } We’ll send you a special live streaming url and you’ll be able to watch the main session from the comfort of your home!
€25 EUR: {Live streaming + Idea Booklet} You get to focus on the livestreaming and be fully present in the conversation. Because you know that you will get detailed, high quality notes from the discussions. As well as articles summarising the big ideas that come out of it. Put together in a beautifully designed publication.
€45 - {Livestreaming + Your questions featured in the Q&A with Cory!} You get to watch the live session from home AND participate actively in the Q&A chat after the talk. It’s a great way to meet and discuss with Sci-Fi and Economics Geeks from all over the planet!
€80 - {RARE Sci-Fi Economics Lecture} For the 1st time, we will have a future economics talk by science fiction author Cory Doctorow & Economist Tom Bauler. It focuses on the experience of living in a different future economy; a professional economist’s point of view on the viability of such a fictional economy & discussion of the path to get there.
€100 - {By Popular Demand: Event Ticket + Limited edition Original Art} We have commissioned a beautiful original illustration to inspire creativity in imagining the future. This pledge package is for those who are extra generous in helping us to cover cost of organising the event. The signed 42 x 29 print will be sent to you by post before Xmas.
€150 - {Event Ticket + Hand-signed Book + Limited edition Original Art} Pledging this amount gets you a ticket for the event @Brussels November 11th + Hand-signed copy of Walkaway book by Cory Doctorow + limited edition Poster to be picked up at the event venue.
€260 - {By Popular Demand: Ticket + Original Art + Limited edition T-Shirt} If the future is not beautiful it is not for us! The pledge package gets you a ticket to the event, a work of art we especially commission AND a high quality screen print t-shirt. The T-shirts are sourced from a local supplier that guarantees ethical, sustainable production.
€450 EUR - {Living in the future!} Pledging this amount gets you a thank you video on our website + a ticket to the Sci-Fi Economics event + limited edition Sci-Fi Economics hoodie + domed sticker (we use them to stop our phones from sliding off slippery surfaces). Ethical + sustainable production (sourced locally). Hoodie will be available for you to pick up at the venue. If you cannot make it in person let us know which address to ship it to.
Where does this come from?
My name is Alberto Cottica. I am an avid science fiction reader since I was in primary school. When I was young I saw sci-fi as a window onto new, wonderful worlds. I gravitated to economics as a way to understand human societies, and figure out pathways to get from the world we have to some of those SF worlds: better, fairer, more humane ones.
I am part of Edgeryders. We are a global community and a post-capitalist enterprise trying to build the infrastructure for a more humane, fairer, greener society. We came together as we figured out that the society we have is badly broken, and that no help is coming.
So, we started trying out new ways.
In our unMonastery prototype we drew inspiration from 10th-century monks for serving local communities…
…and our experimental approaches to co-living and co-working are modelled on coral reefs (The Reef).
Our past and ongoing experiments are connecting different paths into a shared collective journey. It is leading us through everything from experimenting with off-grid living, radical transparency, community driven - solutions for health and social care to street protests and institutional lobbying. Everything, everywhere at the same time.
We want to build a new society, because we see that the house is on fire.
But no society can work without an economy to support it. Economists would, in principle, be the right people to assist us in designing new economic models to support new kinds of society. They did it, in the past. Famous economists like Marx and Keynes dominated the academic debate, and visionary entrepreneurs and politicians like Charles Fourier, Robert Owen and Adriano Olivetti attempted to turn their ideas into viable businesses and policies, sometimes with spectacular successes.
But in recent times economics has let us down. Economists have major influence, but they use it to recommend preserving the status quo, with a few minor tweaks. They are not thinking about radical, system-level reorganizations, that could potentially preserve the planet’s ecological balance, and include everyone in a meaningful effort to be a successful, fair civilization.
But that work is necessary. Someone has to do it. So, it falls to us.
We are not alone in this. A small super-brainy patrol of science fiction authors has paved the way: Cory Doctorow. Bruce Sterling. Neal Stephenson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others. We decided to build on their work, and forge from it a new alloy of science fiction world-building and economic thinking.
Building the Lab
Academia, tied down in publish or perish, is uninterested: we need a new space. So, we partnered with EIT Climate-KIC, the European Union’s largest climate innovation initiative. Together, we are organizing a Science Fiction Economics Lab, to bring together SF authors, economists, technologists, activists and just ordinary citizens who care, like us, to to envision different economic systems. We are not interested in tweaks, one percentage point of budget deficit more or less. By “different” we mean radically different. And these systems need to be rock solid, not some kind of delusional fantasy good for another round of electoral promise.
This will create a template for re-energizing society’s capacity for designing paradigm-level reform; help raise the awareness of the climate crisis as a carrier of opportunity and hope, and not just of disruption and dismay; and embolden would-be reformers, especially in Europe. This space is what we are asking you to support.
In 2019 we will prototype the idea in a barebones format, and start building a community around it. By supporting the Science Fiction Economics Lab, you become yourself an active member of this community. Starting 2020, we will develop the Lab together.
What will actually happen in 2019
The maiden voyage of the Sci-Fi Economics Lab happens in Brussels on November 11th and 12th. Provisions are made for remote participation. It consists of four parts:
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A double keynote lecture – also in live streaming.
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Reclaiming Utopia, a workshop where we learn how to mobilize ourselves for the more humane, fairer, greener economy we want. In collaboration with Extinction Rebellion.
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A party. Because if we can’t dance, we don’t want your alt-economy!
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A brainstorming session to create abstracts for contributions to economic theory and economic policy underpinning fictional economies.
Full information here.
The Impact
Change is coming. You know it is. You know its main driver is likely to be climate, and that it will interact with growing inequalities, mass surveillance and a rogue ultra-rich class.
What nobody knows is what form it will take. This is where building a shared clarity of purpose and a shared basic economics toolkit might make a major difference for the direction the future takes.
image credit: Lorenzo Conti
At Edgeryders, we believe communities of radical activists, lifestyle hackers and artists have done substantial R&D in prototyping parts of the new world that could come out of the current crisis. Their knowledge and experience must now become part of how we, as a civilization, respond to it.
In our mission, we have found in EIT Climate-KIC a powerful ally. They move a lot of money; they are part of Europe’s policy making machinery; and they one of very few organizations that actually behave like the house in fire, and we are running out of time.
If the Sci-Fi Economics Lab is successful, its impact would show in directly influencing the political agenda, at least in Europe. Radical voices would gain strength, as the economic basis for radical policies would be secured.
This can have a lot of impact, because, maybe for the first time in our lifetimes, the Powers That Be are getting desperate, and are fundamentally benevolent. We need each other, and can swing this crisis the right way.
Please, please, do not pass on this opportunity. We may never get another.
What we will use your money for
It works like this: EIT-Climate KIC is funding 80% of the Lab. Edgeryders has agreed to step in with the remaining 20%. But we are a tiny company made by a bunch of non-business people (to give you an idea, our CTO lives in a truck, mostly off-grid).
So, we are looking for people willing to carry a part of the load. We are supposed to contribute 10,500 EUR, and we will, regardless of what you do. However, we really really hope to collect 5,000 of them from you.
If we fail, the maiden voyage of the Science Fiction Economics Lab will happen anyway. We will just pay up.
But then, we will have to reconsider: we simply cannot hope to make an impact alone. If this path does not work, we might have to drop it, and find another one.
How can I attend the event?
Help us with our crowdfunding campaign, choose your pledge and receive the ticket plus goodies for the Brussels 11th event.
You cannot make it to Brussels?
You can still support the project, and gain access to the live streaming of the event. We also commit to document the brainstorming session to write Sci-FI Economics papers, and share the documentation with you. And finally, we are Edgeryders: working together remotely is what we do. By supporting us, you gain a seat at the table of how we develop the Science Fiction Economics Lab into 2020 and beyond.