Techno-(E)utopias of Abundance, Sustainability and Sufficiency - MANCEPT 2026 conference panel

CALL FOR ABSTRACTs

Techno-(E)utopias of Abundance, Sustainability and Sufficiency

MANCEPT Workshops 2026  |  University of Manchester  |  2–4 September 2026

Manchester Centre for Political Theory

About the Panel

This interdisciplinary conference panel aims to re-examine the political philosophy concept of utopia through the competing yet intertwined and probably complementary focal lenses of abundance and sufficiency, under conditions of increasing technological acceleration and deepening ecological constraints. Political and technological utopias have often relied on assumptions of material or productive abundance. Today, however, such assumptions collide with the realities of planetary boundaries, sharp increasing energy demands, critical element dependency, and fragile socio-technological systems.

The purpose of this interdisciplinary panel is to create a focused forum in which political theorist; ethicists; philosophers; technology, sustainability as well as Sci-Fi and Cli-Fi researchers critically interrogate whether emerging technological developments — such as artificial intelligence (AI, ASI AGI), quantum computation, blockchain infrastructures, and digital finance — revive, reconfigure, or undermine particular eutopian ideals, and whether sufficiency-based eutopias could also contribute viable alternative normative horizons.

A central guiding question is which aspects of emerging technological systems plausibly support (e)utopias of abundance, and which rather intensify the case for socio-political imaginaries grounded in sufficiency, sustainability, and ecological interrelatedness. There could be a risk that certain contemporary “techno-utopian” narratives — especially those associated with AGI, ASI, singularity, and centralized or decentralized digital infrastructures — mask potential, yet underappreciated, forms of “scarcity”, digital dependency, and asymmetrical power concentration, particularly in relation to progressive energy consumption, data center expansion, and the extraction, utilization and recycling of critical elements.

The panel adopts an explicitly pluralistic methodological inter- and transdisciplinary approach. Contributions are expected to engage in political theory; ethics; philosophy; technology, sustainability as well as Sci-Fi and Cli-Fi research while remaining empirically literate about both emerging technological systems and eco-environmental constraints.

Submission Guidelines

Abstract length: 300 words

Format: Abstracts must be anonymised. Please include your name, affiliation, and contact details in the body of the submission email.

Submission email: [email protected]

Submission deadline: 7 June 2026

Notification of acceptance: 9 June 2026

Conference Information

Date: 2–4 September 2026

Format: In-person only (no hybrid or online component)

Location: University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Conference website: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/activities/mancept-workshops-2026/

Registration & costs: Please visit the conference website for information on registration fees and bursary applications.

Panel Convenor

•        Roman Meinhold — Mahidol University, International College, Thailand

Panel Co-Convenors

•        Peter Adjei-Bamfo — Charles Sturt University, Australia

•        Michael Clark — Vin University, Vietnam

•        Alain Neher — Charles Sturt University, Australia

•        Nynke van Uffelen — TU Delft, Netherlands

•        Christoph Wagner — University of Hohenheim, Germany

The MANCEPT Workshops are organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory and represent a leading international forum for political theory research.