Zaidi, Leah. 2021. “Welcome to the Cyberpunk Dystopia.” Presented at the FITC Sessions, March 11. http://fitc.ca/event/cyberpunk/.
When COVID-19 began, many of us looked to science fiction and found that pandemic stories didn’t fit the reality that emerged – we were looking in the wrong place! High-tech, low-life, and an uncertain future places us in a cyberpunk dystopia; COVID-19 is all about order and control, and this has implications for what and how we design in the present and for the future.

Zaidi explains Why we’re in a cyberpunk dystopia and how we can design our way out of it. She emphasizes we can understand the value of dystopias and how they can be applied in human-centred design initiatives.
    What is a dystopia [ Zaidi]
    The role of dystopias in society [Zaidi & Doctorow and Brin etc)
    Why we’re living in a cyberpunk dystopia
    The design implications of a cyberpunk dystopia
    How to use dystopias strategically [take up Zaidi's thought and see how it complements Doctorow and librarianship crisis and scarcity responses? ]