Play Utopia - Video Games for Critical Imagination in a Barcelona Youth Club

Abstract

In the face of the climate crisis, rising inequalities, fascism, and war, the future is increasingly envisioned as a scheduled apocalypse. To dispute such futures, Play Utopia began two years ago as a future creation workshop at Barcelona, where young people play and dialogue around video games as cultural media. Drawing on critical utopian pedagogy and action research, the project explores how pedagogical practice with video games cultivates critique, co-constructs desirable future imaginaries, and reshapes subjectivities toward transformative action.