Please note: This event took place in Oct 2020
For this Lunchtime Talk we're joined by Ben Walters aka Dr Duckie. Ben will be discussing what makes a homemade mutant hope machine - a way of describing how people without much clout can start to build better worlds on their own terms as well as his years of research with legendary queer performance collective, Duckie.
As the world we knew cracks apart, it’s easy to despair, but Dr Duckie is here to make the case for hope as a pragmatic technology of civic change. Better worlds are possible, even for those at the sharp end of injustice and inequality. And we can all make them together – one deed, one day, one dance at a time. It’s about collective care and support, the value of mutation and the power of fun.
Following years of doctoral research with legendary queer performance collective Duckie, and first-hand immersion in their unique community projects, Dr Duckie had a brainwave... It's all about homemade mutant hope machines. Emergent, autonomous and adaptive forms and processes that routinely generate hope in the possibility of better worlds for people on the margins. They start at home and adapt to changing conditions. They work toward their own goals on their own terms. And they prove that, when you routinely behave as if better worlds are possible, those worlds start to appear.
In this talk, Dr Duckie will discuss what makes his homemade mutant hope machine ticks and give examples of community projects made with and for older people, homeless people and young queer artists. But it’s not just about Duckie, hope machines are everywhere. They're what the future's made of. What’s yours?