Return to the Paleolithic: A Study of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Selected Climate Fiction as a Narrative of Degrowth

Abstract

As global environmental crises escalate, climate fiction (cli-fi) provides a crucial framework for imagining sustainable ecological futures. This study examines Kim Stanley Robinson’s climate fiction works Fifty Degrees Below and Sixty Days and Counting, the concluding volumes of his Science in the Capital trilogy. Utilising Serge Latouche’s Degrowth theory as a critical lens, the paper analyses how the selected works incorporate the “8Rs of Degrowth”—Re-evaluate, Reconceptualize, Restructure, Redistribute, Relocalize, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Through close textual analysis, the study demonstrates how these principles manifest in the daily lives of characters. Latouche’s 8Rs framework provides a practical roadmap for transitioning towards sustainable societies and Robinson’s cli-fi provides a crucial cultural site for imagining sustainable ecological futures. The intersection of degrowth theory and climate fiction offers a valuable area for future interdisciplinary research, particularly in exploring how literary narratives shape ecological consciousness and contribute to emerging visions of sustainable futures.