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writing:solarpunk_work [2026/05/04 18:52] – JacobCoffinWriteswriting:solarpunk_work [2026/05/09 12:44] (current) – [What Work Will Get Done?] JacobCoffinWrites
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   * Hierarchies which permit or even encourage abuse (both within the organization and by outside clients/customers).   * Hierarchies which permit or even encourage abuse (both within the organization and by outside clients/customers).
   * Work where even the people doing it can't convince themselves it matters (but are often compelled to pretend that it does) or which is actively harmful.    * Work where even the people doing it can't convince themselves it matters (but are often compelled to pretend that it does) or which is actively harmful. 
-  * The need to pretend to be busy when you're not. This act of compulsory play-pretend is deeply frustrating and unnecessary. +  * The need to pretend to be busy when you're not. A work culture built around buying and owning an employee's time often leads to bosses and managers who feel workers are stealing from them if they're not visibly working every minute, even if they know there's nothing for them to do in that moment. They'll then make up busywork tasks for them to do or tell them to 'look busy.' This act of compulsory play-pretend is deeply frustrating and unnecessary. 
   * Performative discomfort - the idea that it's unprofessional for a cashier to sit down when they're not ringing someone up, for example (or even if they are).    * Performative discomfort - the idea that it's unprofessional for a cashier to sit down when they're not ringing someone up, for example (or even if they are). 
   * Needless bureaucracy/processes/hurdles, which take time from necessary work and often exist to justify the roles of various people higher up the hierarchy.   * Needless bureaucracy/processes/hurdles, which take time from necessary work and often exist to justify the roles of various people higher up the hierarchy.
  
 For much of this, you can run a quick check just by asking "would someone put up with this if they were a volunteer?" For much of this, you can run a quick check just by asking "would someone put up with this if they were a volunteer?"
 +
  
 ==== What Work Will Get Done? ==== ==== What Work Will Get Done? ====
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 There's also a tremendous amount of work which should be done today, -- especially in environmentalism -- that just //isn't// done because it's not profitable or else it relies mainly on students, or other volunteers. Detecting industrial contamination, tracking and removing invasive species, work like this could easily qualify as a full-time solarpunk calling. There's also a tremendous amount of work which should be done today, -- especially in environmentalism -- that just //isn't// done because it's not profitable or else it relies mainly on students, or other volunteers. Detecting industrial contamination, tracking and removing invasive species, work like this could easily qualify as a full-time solarpunk calling.
 +
 +|  | A Note on Compensation |
 +|  | Compensation as I'm using it here can be a pretty broad category. Money or the luxuries it would buy are perhaps the default to our way of thinking today. Commerce, indepent of capitalism is fine for many settings and can make for an easier understanding by the audience. If your setting is thoroughly post-scarcity, tokens of community acclaim are an interesting option. The book Murder in the Tool Library had a sort of augmented reality cyberspace overlay which most characters saw - and which was used to provide creative modifications/decorations to award people who made important contributions to their communities through their work. |
 +
  
 ==== Decide the circumstances ==== ==== Decide the circumstances ====
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 In some ways, work in this setting might look more familiar to a modern audience and may not be the result of deliberate/revolutionary change. The challenge may be more around depicting communities which have built/maintained good collectivist practices, to provide for each other and to resist strongman-types who would drive another return to feudalism. In some ways, work in this setting might look more familiar to a modern audience and may not be the result of deliberate/revolutionary change. The challenge may be more around depicting communities which have built/maintained good collectivist practices, to provide for each other and to resist strongman-types who would drive another return to feudalism.
  
-==== Were to look for examples of solarpunk callings IRL ====+==== Where to look for examples of solarpunk callings IRL ====
  
 One of the best starting points here is to ask [[https://www.reddit.com/r/solarpunk/comments/1r20tml/what_would_be_your_profession_in_your_ideal/|what would you do if it didn't have to be make money?]] One of the best starting points here is to ask [[https://www.reddit.com/r/solarpunk/comments/1r20tml/what_would_be_your_profession_in_your_ideal/|what would you do if it didn't have to be make money?]]
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   * Librarians (this role may be far more common in a library economy, albeit with much different skill requirements, as people working for tool libraries, or kitchenware libraries would provide different information than librarians for books and other media)   * Librarians (this role may be far more common in a library economy, albeit with much different skill requirements, as people working for tool libraries, or kitchenware libraries would provide different information than librarians for books and other media)
   * Researchers/scientists (who often encounter a similar degree of education requirements/debt and poor pay IRL)   * Researchers/scientists (who often encounter a similar degree of education requirements/debt and poor pay IRL)
-  * The paid staff hired by nonprofits - who could easily take their skills to the private sector but who choose to work for less because they believe in what they do. Land conservation, food banks, housing assistance, etc. The staff are often a critical part of ensuring a volunteer-supported organization has the resources and organization necessary do pursue it's mission. +  * The paid staff hired by nonprofits - who could easily take their skills to the private sector but who choose to work for less because they believe in what they do. Land conservation, food banks, housing assistance, etc. The staff are often a critical part of ensuring a volunteer-supported organization has the resources and organization necessary do pursue its mission. 
   * Firefighters and Paramedics (compensation varies wildly, but can be quite low)   * Firefighters and Paramedics (compensation varies wildly, but can be quite low)
   * Nurses   * Nurses
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     * The Audubon Society does numerous volunteer-based events like participating in [[https://www.birdcount.org/|the Great Backyard Bird Count]]. One of the things that convinced me early on that people will find productive ways to fill their time was my local chapters' participation in the fall migration count. Every year in October they pack snacks and birding gear and camp out on birdwatching platforms throughout New England, keeping track of migratory birds and teaching anyone who stops by for free. It's hard to describe the enthusiasm of the volunteers, their excitement to share their fancy scopes and both point out cool birds and to talk about them. I imagine many would love if they could do this more frequently but free time is often a limiting factor.     * The Audubon Society does numerous volunteer-based events like participating in [[https://www.birdcount.org/|the Great Backyard Bird Count]]. One of the things that convinced me early on that people will find productive ways to fill their time was my local chapters' participation in the fall migration count. Every year in October they pack snacks and birding gear and camp out on birdwatching platforms throughout New England, keeping track of migratory birds and teaching anyone who stops by for free. It's hard to describe the enthusiasm of the volunteers, their excitement to share their fancy scopes and both point out cool birds and to talk about them. I imagine many would love if they could do this more frequently but free time is often a limiting factor.
     * There are similar counts for [[https://nationalmothweek.org/mothing-101/|moth-]] and [[https://naba.org/butterfly-counts/|butterfly watchers]]!     * There are similar counts for [[https://nationalmothweek.org/mothing-101/|moth-]] and [[https://naba.org/butterfly-counts/|butterfly watchers]]!
 +    * NASA lists [[https://science.nasa.gov/citizen-science/|42 different citizen science projects on their website]] - people classify images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, photograph clouds, classify images from trail cameras, monitor their local air quality, report landslides, inspect photographs of the asteroid belt, report water levels in lakes, search for exoplanets, classify light curves from gamma ray bursts, and much more.
   * Much of the work of fighting invasive species is currently carried out by volunteers. They form work parties harvesting and bagging garlic mustard, or spend summer days sitting by boat ramps waiting to inspect people's boats and trailers for milfoil to ensure they don't spread it to uncontaminated waterways.    * Much of the work of fighting invasive species is currently carried out by volunteers. They form work parties harvesting and bagging garlic mustard, or spend summer days sitting by boat ramps waiting to inspect people's boats and trailers for milfoil to ensure they don't spread it to uncontaminated waterways. 
 +  * Many museums, such as the [[https://sdmaritime.org/|San Diego Maritime Museum]] and [[https://www.battleshipcove.org/|Battleship Cove]], rely on volunteer docents, guides, and [[https://slrpnk.net/post/37448834/22160747|maintenance personnel]]. Some even field volunteer crews while sailing. This is likely a common structure for museums with large structures to maintain (ie: marine, train, aircraft, architecture). 
   * Building, managing, and contributing to online communities. If you think of the scope and scale of some of the online resources provided by tech support forums, or Buy it For Life communities, this represents a sort of amateur information sciences/curation/expertise role. Similarly, managing/moderating local community Free Groups such as Buy Nothing, Freecycle, or Everything is Free can be an excellent contribution to a community.    * Building, managing, and contributing to online communities. If you think of the scope and scale of some of the online resources provided by tech support forums, or Buy it For Life communities, this represents a sort of amateur information sciences/curation/expertise role. Similarly, managing/moderating local community Free Groups such as Buy Nothing, Freecycle, or Everything is Free can be an excellent contribution to a community. 
   * The 3D printing scene has a remarkably active community of people designing and publishing and iterating on 3d models which they usually make available free and open source. Anyone can download their files and print them out. In a solarpunk setting this could represent [[https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:repairability_in_solarpunk#a_change_in_ethos_incentive|an entire new model for manufacturing]].   * The 3D printing scene has a remarkably active community of people designing and publishing and iterating on 3d models which they usually make available free and open source. Anyone can download their files and print them out. In a solarpunk setting this could represent [[https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:repairability_in_solarpunk#a_change_in_ethos_incentive|an entire new model for manufacturing]].
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 Even under a system with robust protections, there's no guarantee everything will go to plan or that people will be able to pursue their callings at all times. People may spend time recovering from an injury, or working through trauma or other conditions. They may have to take on caregiving for a loved one [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/denisebrodey/2024/04/25/73-of-employees-have-a-secret-second-job-its-caregiving/|(often called hidden labor, this work often goes untracked/unpaid today)]]. Very much related, they might spend years doing childcare full time. A solarpunk society should recognize that this is valid labor which contributes to the community and common good and provide the necessary supports to do it. Even under a system with robust protections, there's no guarantee everything will go to plan or that people will be able to pursue their callings at all times. People may spend time recovering from an injury, or working through trauma or other conditions. They may have to take on caregiving for a loved one [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/denisebrodey/2024/04/25/73-of-employees-have-a-secret-second-job-its-caregiving/|(often called hidden labor, this work often goes untracked/unpaid today)]]. Very much related, they might spend years doing childcare full time. A solarpunk society should recognize that this is valid labor which contributes to the community and common good and provide the necessary supports to do it.
 +
 +===Individual/community chores===
 +
 +This is a fuzzy category of work that falls short of being most people's calling but which still has to be done (unless your setting has a truly marvelous level of automation). It definitely has some overlap with previously mentioned examples but I think it's worth calling out that most people will labor outside their calling (if they have one) at least some of the time. 
 +
 +When this work falls primarily on (or is dumped on) one member of a household IRL it often //is// full time work or longer, often minus the compensation and prestige of employment. Historically much of this work (such as cleaning house, clothes, and dishes, preparing food, tending crops or at least a garden) was assigned to women. And when the work was partially automated through appliances, societal trends and social pressures often made this labor more elaborate, as if to use up any time saved.
 +
 +In a solarpunk setting, (especially one with more free time overall due to a reduction of unnecessary work, harmful work, and through the equal distribution of benefits from automation) chore labor would likely be divided more equally amongst members of a community (be it at the household/communal living level, neighborhood level, etc, whatever makes sense for your story). 
 +
 +The disbursement of this work will need some flexibility around physical/mental ability, preferences, skills/specializations, etc. But it's important to separate this work from hierarchies. In a solarpunk world it's probably safe to say that no one is 'too important' to clean their own workspace or living space (obviously with exceptions for hazardous/critical cleaning like in medical environments or mold remediation where you need a specialist to do it right). Someone might be too busy with other tasks sometimes, or they might be dealing with sickness or grief etc and being cared for by their community, but the normal expectation would likely be that competent adults tend to their environment and do their part of the community workload (whatever that may be).
 +
 +This could be taking a turn scrubbing down a communal kitchen or weeding a rooftop garden, shoveling snow off a sidewalk, or doing other maintenance tasks. Older folks who can't do the more physical tasks often help with childcare, food prep, fix things, or provide advice/supervision.
 +
 +And again the boundaries with the other work listed above are fuzzy. In real life, picking up litter could be part of a job (for example, with a US state Department of Transportation, or a city Parks and Rec department), a community volunteer event (such as an Earth Day cleanup), a personal volunteer project, or even a chore (if, say, trash keeps blowing into your yard from the freeway). It's very likely you'd see a similar overlap in a solarpunk world.
 +
  
 ==== How does this work look different? ==== ==== How does this work look different? ====
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 So solarpunk workers should be respected for contributing to the community and for being part of the community. Their work should be as non-hierarchical as possible, as voluntary as possible, as safe/comfortable as possible, and as self-directed as possible. If there's a bureaucratic aspect -especially within a job, as opposed to navigating an external org's requirements- it should generally be limited to tasks someone could be convinced is worthwhile for them to do, rather than something they can be compelled to do by a manager who doesn't mind wasting their time. So writing grant applications for the organization's mission still probably fits, but you might need a pretty compelling reason before you start filling out weekly or daily reports on your own productivity. So solarpunk workers should be respected for contributing to the community and for being part of the community. Their work should be as non-hierarchical as possible, as voluntary as possible, as safe/comfortable as possible, and as self-directed as possible. If there's a bureaucratic aspect -especially within a job, as opposed to navigating an external org's requirements- it should generally be limited to tasks someone could be convinced is worthwhile for them to do, rather than something they can be compelled to do by a manager who doesn't mind wasting their time. So writing grant applications for the organization's mission still probably fits, but you might need a pretty compelling reason before you start filling out weekly or daily reports on your own productivity.
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 +{{:writing:image_proxy.jpeg?direct|}}
 +Flyer from the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160425011024/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_American_Movement|The New American Movement (NAM)]]