Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future
Seeking to contribute to current research on the future imagination, the article explores a scientific fiction text, The Ministry of the Future (2020), by Kim Stanley Robinson. This novel has two singularities: it begins in July 2024, so it narrates an imminent future, prolonging concrete possibilit...
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| Formato: | Artículo revista |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/44383 |
| Aporte de: |
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I10-R348-article-44383 |
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ojs |
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Universidad Nacional de Córdoba |
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I-10 |
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R-348 |
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Astrolabio |
| language |
Español |
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Artículo revista |
| topic |
money futurization science fiction climate change imagination dinero futurización ficción científica cambio climático imaginación |
| spellingShingle |
money futurization science fiction climate change imagination dinero futurización ficción científica cambio climático imaginación Gatto, Ezequiel Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| topic_facet |
money futurization science fiction climate change imagination dinero futurización ficción científica cambio climático imaginación |
| author |
Gatto, Ezequiel |
| author_facet |
Gatto, Ezequiel |
| author_sort |
Gatto, Ezequiel |
| title |
Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| title_short |
Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| title_full |
Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| title_fullStr |
Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future |
| title_sort |
money and future in times of climate change. a sociological and historical approach to kim stanley robinson´s the ministry of the future |
| description |
Seeking to contribute to current research on the future imagination, the article explores a scientific fiction text, The Ministry of the Future (2020), by Kim Stanley Robinson. This novel has two singularities: it begins in July 2024, so it narrates an imminent future, prolonging concrete possibilities of our present, and it proposes, based on existing academic articles, a currency —carboncoin— for the ecological transition. This makes the novel a speculative science fiction of strategy, a notion explored in the article to understand this way of imagining the future.
After presenting a series of sociological concepts for the study of money (with emphasis on Nigel Dodd’s concept of “social fiction”) and outlining a history of imagining the future of money, and arguing that, since 2008, we live in a conjuncture of currency transformation, the futurization of money present in the novel is analyzed. The characteristics and implications of the carboncoin, which rewards carbon capture, are explored, analyzing moments of its design and evolution in relation to banking institutions, the dollar, technologies and the dilemmas of its adoption.
By putting the plot of the novel into dialogue with historical phenomena, theoretical positions, political discourses, social and technological processes, we try to support the hypothesis that the way of imagining the future in a current science fiction novel, which speculates on the future of money in times of climate change, can offer new possibilities for the social sciences to think about the future. |
| publisher |
Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| url |
https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/44383 |
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2025-02-05T22:11:01Z |
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2025-02-05T22:11:01Z |
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I10-R348-article-443832025-01-06T19:51:52Z Money and Future in Times of Climate Change. A Sociological and Historical Approach to Kim Stanley Robinson´s The Ministry of the Future Dinero y futuro en tiempos de cambio climático. Un abordaje sociológico e histórico de El ministerio del futuro, de Kim Stanley Robinson Gatto, Ezequiel money futurization science fiction climate change imagination dinero futurización ficción científica cambio climático imaginación Seeking to contribute to current research on the future imagination, the article explores a scientific fiction text, The Ministry of the Future (2020), by Kim Stanley Robinson. This novel has two singularities: it begins in July 2024, so it narrates an imminent future, prolonging concrete possibilities of our present, and it proposes, based on existing academic articles, a currency —carboncoin— for the ecological transition. This makes the novel a speculative science fiction of strategy, a notion explored in the article to understand this way of imagining the future. After presenting a series of sociological concepts for the study of money (with emphasis on Nigel Dodd’s concept of “social fiction”) and outlining a history of imagining the future of money, and arguing that, since 2008, we live in a conjuncture of currency transformation, the futurization of money present in the novel is analyzed. The characteristics and implications of the carboncoin, which rewards carbon capture, are explored, analyzing moments of its design and evolution in relation to banking institutions, the dollar, technologies and the dilemmas of its adoption. By putting the plot of the novel into dialogue with historical phenomena, theoretical positions, political discourses, social and technological processes, we try to support the hypothesis that the way of imagining the future in a current science fiction novel, which speculates on the future of money in times of climate change, can offer new possibilities for the social sciences to think about the future. Buscando aportar a la investigación sobre la imaginación de futuro actual, el artículo explora una ficción científica, El ministerio del futuro (2020), de Kim Stanley Robinson. Esta novela tiene dos singularidades: comienza en julio de 2024, por lo que narra un futuro inminente, prolongando posibilidades concretas de nuestro presente, y propone, basándose en artículos académicos existentes, una moneda —carboncoin— para la transición ecológica. Ello la convierte en una ficción científica especulativa de estrategia, noción explorada en el artículo para comprender esta forma de imaginar el futuro. Tras presentar una serie de conceptos sociológicos para el estudio del dinero (con énfasis en “ficción social”, de Nigel Dodd) y esbozar una historia de la imaginación del futuro del dinero, sosteniendo que, desde 2008, vivimos en una coyuntura de transformación de la moneda, se analiza la futurización del dinero presente en la novela. Se exploran las características e implicaciones del carboncoin, que premia la captura de carbono, analizando momentos de su diseño y devenir en relación a las instituciones bancarias, el dólar, las tecnologías y los dilemas de su adopción. Poniendo a dialogar la trama de la novela con fenómenos históricos, posiciones teóricas, discursos políticos, procesos sociales y tecnológicos, se intenta dar volumen a la hipótesis de que el modo de imaginar el futuro en una ficción científica actual, que especula con el porvenir del dinero en tiempos de cambio climático, puede ofrecer nuevas posibilidades de pensar el futuro a las ciencias sociales. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2025-01-03 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Artículo revisado por pares application/pdf text/html https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/44383 10.55441/1668.7515.n34.44383 Astrolabio; No. 34 (2025): Enero - Junio: Cronotopías de la intimidad: estudios sobre subjetividad y la redefinición de lo público y lo privado; 394-420 Astrolabio; Núm. 34 (2025): Enero - Junio: Cronotopías de la intimidad: estudios sobre subjetividad y la redefinición de lo público y lo privado; 394-420 Astrolabio; n. 34 (2025): Enero - Junio: Cronotopías de la intimidad: estudios sobre subjetividad y la redefinición de lo público y lo privado; 394-420 1668-7515 10.55441/1668.7515.n34 spa https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/44383/48248 https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/44383/48249 Derechos de autor 2025 Ezequiel Gatto https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 |