Viewpoint

Letter from the Editor

Julia Kloiber & Irini Papadimitriou & Michelle Thorne & Jon Rogers

About the Future in Times of Crises

For over a year now, people around the world have suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has laid bare our societies’ divides and driven fundamental changes in how we live and work. And its immediacy has sharpened our understanding of the other crises we face: inequality, authoritarianism and environmental collapse. In the midst of these crises, the outlook for the future might seem dire, but we’ve also seen creativity and resilience emerge. New ways of doing things are being envisioned and tested. Solidarity is thriving.

In this new edition of Ding magazine we have invited activists, artists and writers from around the globe to share their thoughts about the future in times of crises. In seven essays they reflect on this year: On the hardship they and others have faced and what keeps them hopeful. They talk about their resilient communities and share strategies for cohesion.

Joel Kwong and Eric Siu take us to the citizen protest movement in Hong Kong—a movement which has abandoned hierarchies and leaders to become fluid and shapeless, like water. Writing about the recent protests in her home country of Belarus (the largest in its history), in “Future Perfect Continuous” Olia Sosnovskaya examines how people practice the future by living through the present. An essay on Pirate Care looks at how practices of repair, care and maintenance bring social justice into focus and enable the building of more open, ethical and fair structures for all.

While our instincts might be saying otherwise, if there ever were a moment to think about the future, it is now. Things that seemed impossible might be possible—but only if we dare to imagine and articulate them. These seven essays are an invitation.

This edition of Ding magazine is a collaboration between the Goethe Institute and Superrr Lab. It is co-curated by Julia Kloiber, Martina Puchberger, Irini Papadimitriou, Michelle Thorne, Jon Rogers and Elisa Lindinger. Design by Rainbow Unicorn. Editor: Katharine Waters <3

by Julia Kloiber

Julia Kloiber is the Co-Founder of Superrr Lab – a feminist nonprofit. In her work she investigates emerging technologies and future narratives. She is researching how technologies and policies have to be shaped to create just and fair digital futures for all.

Irini Papadimitriou

Irini Papadimitriou is a curator and cultural manager, whose practice draws on interdisciplinary and critical discourse to explore the impact of technology in society and culture, and the role of art in helping us engage with contemporary issues. Currently she is the Creative Director at FutureEverything, an arts organisation and innovation lab in Manchester.

Michelle Thorne

Michelle Thorne is working towards a fossil-free internet. She is the Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the Green Web Foundation and co-founder of the Green Screen Coalition for digital rights and climate justice. She served 12 years at the Mozilla Foundation, most recently as Mozilla’s Sustainable Internet Lead. She publishes Branch, an online magazine written by and for people who dream about a sustainable internet, which received the Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanities in 2021.

Jon Rogers

Jon Rogers is an academic at the Northumbria University. His work explores the human intersection between digital technologies and the design of physical of things.