Author
Tanner Mirrlees
Professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies at Ontario Tech University, Canada.
Forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic
Green Dreams Why Technology Can't Save the World
A forthcoming critique of green techno-optimism by Tanner Mirrlees and Imre Szeman.
Book launches
Feb 4 2027
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The promise of clean technology
Electric cars, smart apps, green AI, carbon capture, solar panels-everywhere we turn, we're told technology will save the planet.
Green Dreams shows why that promise is so compelling, and why it keeps us chasing solutions that leave the real causes of the climate crisis untouched.
Blending cultural criticism, political analysis, and environmental history, Green Dreams traces the rise of green techno-optimism from postwar fantasies of progress to Silicon Valley manifestos, EV marketing, Big Tech sustainability campaigns, and Hollywood eco-futures. Along the way, it exposes the hidden costs of supposedly "clean" technologies: extractive mining, exploding energy demand, ecological destruction, and the preservation of systems built on endless growth and consumption. Rather than rejecting technology outright, Tanner Mirrlees and Imre Szeman argue that technological solutions can matter only if paired with deeper social, political, and economic transformation. Provocative, accessible, and sharply argued, Green Dreams offers a powerful critique of one of the defining ideologies of our time.
The dream sequence
The chapters trace the comfort, machinery, and politics of technological rescue.
- Chapter 1
The EV Illusion
- Chapter 2
Inventing Techno-Optimism
- Chapter 3
California Dreamin'
- Chapter 4
Code Green
- Chapter 5
The Dream Machine
- Chapter 6
Power Plays
Sample chapter
Details
- Published
- Feb 04 2027
- Format
- Hardback
- Edition
- 1st
- Pages
- 240
- ISBN
- 9781350443174
- Imprint
- Bloomsbury Academic
- Dimensions
- 216 x 138 mm
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
Author
Imre Szeman
The inaugural Director of the Institute for Environment, Culture and Society and Professor of Human Geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada.
Praise for Green Dreams
Reviews
Praise for Green Dreams
"Ignoring earthly limits is not optimism, but delusion.
In Green Dreams: Why Technology Can't Save the World, Mirrlees and Szeman precisely skewer the enticing lure of green techno-optimism-the false promise, often employed by politicians, that "green" technology will save us from impending climate chaos. Techno-optimism does not threaten the status quo of capitalism and economic growth. It is a false and dangerous promise. Thankfully, Green Dreams rejects techno-pessimism and the risk of despair. Truth telling is foundational to building a new and more radical hope. As this book underscores "Ignoring earthly limits is not optimism, but delusion."
The hope for the future lies in our ability to follow Green Dreams' nine new laws of nature. Optimism stems from the human spirit and Mother Earth herself. Everything is connected to everything else, as are we all."
"Essential reading for an age saturated with gadgets.
Mirrlees and Szeman strip away the illusions around dead things supposed to be green - EVs, carbon capture, clouds, AI and much more - connect them to the far right and Hollywood, write the history of the cult and critique of modern tech and, most importantly, insist on shaking off this occupation. Essential reading for an age saturated with gadgets."
"Wake up from your green dreams.
Can Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other big-tech Prometheans tackle the climate crisis on our behalf using technologies so clever they seem like magic? No, is the emphatic answer detailed in this absorbing and alarming book. Capitalism California-style is the root of our global problems, not the source of much-needed solutions. Wake up from your 'green dreams' is the urgent message of Mirrlees and Szeman."
"Bring better energy dreams to life.
The energy landscape is shifting beneath our feet. Solar and wind power are spreading, as are right-wing movements that defend fossil fuels, allied with tech elites who demand more energy. Green Dreams is an indispensable guide through this morass. At the root of the problem, argue Tanner Mirrlees and Imre Szeman, is our widespread faith in technology as the only hope for a better future. From Hollywood to liberal environmentalists, and from AI to China's green tech boom, Mirrlees and Szeman tell a dynamic story of how techno-optimism rose to power, turned green, and remains as strong as ever. Readers will find the tools to dislodge that false hope and bring better energy dreams to life."
Green Dreams
Wake up from green techno-optimism.
Read the forthcoming critique of the technologies we're told will save the planet, and why deeper transformation is still required.