The Dystopia Project: Collectivity, Interdependence and the Pandemic

Raffaella Baccolini, University of Bologna, Forlì Campus

raffaella.baccolini(at)unibo.it

Abstract:This short reflection is a presentation of the “Dystopia Project” collective, a group of scholars and activists drawn together by an interest in furthering their understanding of dystopia. Following a brief presentation and history of the Dystopia Project’s collective, I reflect about some of the lessons that the pandemic has reinforced: a sense of increased vulnerability together with the rise of inequalities, the need to learn to “stay with the trouble,” and the importance of interdependence and interconnection. The reflection ends on the importance of “critical dystopia,” which, with its open endings and formal features, maintains a horizon of hope.