Tomorrowland: Critical Social Theory of Planetary Politics

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearch

  • Ian James Manners
We live in ‘Tomorrowland’; a land at the nexus of social science and natural science where the solution to our problems will be found tomorrow. The paper addresses the impossibility of international relations by proposing an alternative approach located in critical social theory. The paper utilises critical social theory to critique contemporary liberal assumptions and rationalisations of cultures of consumption as suffering from the challenges of living in Tomorrowland. In Tomorrowland the future is today, meaning that questions of pollution, biodiversity, and climate change can be addressed in a liberal sense by accelerating the transition to future technology today, no matter what the costs of consumption. Critical social theory will be used to analyse the way in which the Disneyfication of Tomorrowland does not render sustainability more likely through accelerated technological transition. To the contrary, the Disneyfication of Tomorrowland into easily consumed and culturally acceptable technological fantasies ensure that allocation and access will never be adequately addressed in international relations.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date6 Apr 2018
Number of pages26
Publication statusPublished - 6 Apr 2018
EventISA Annual Convention 2018: Power of Rules and Rules of Power - San Francisco, United States
Duration: 4 Apr 20188 Apr 2018
https://www.isanet.org/Conferences/San-Francisco-2018

Conference

ConferenceISA Annual Convention 2018
CountryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period04/04/201808/04/2018
Internet address

ID: 203008976