ecodystopian
Ecodystopian is a label used in literary criticism to describe a subgenre of speculative fiction in which futures are depicted as severely degraded environments whose distress is inseparable from social, political, and economic structures. In ecodystopian works, ecological crisis—such as climate disruption, pollution, biodiversity loss, or resource scarcity—drives not only the setting but the dynamics of power, coercion, and inequality. The genre often foregrounds how institutions respond to ecological pressures, sometimes through technocratic control, privatization, or repressive governance.
Origins and usage: The term has gained traction alongside climate fiction (cli-fi) in the early 21st century,
Common examples include The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, and The
Relation to related terms: Ecodystopia is often distinguished from cli-fi by its emphasis on social-political breakdown