Three hundred years after its publication, Jonathan Swift’s famous book invites us to look at our world differently, and to imagine how we might live together more sustainably.
In 1726, exactly 300 years ago, Irish writer Jonathan Swift published Gulliver’s Travels, a story of extraordinary journeys to unfamiliar lands. Some of the stories from the books have become household names, and are popular with young and old.
But behind the adventures and strange encounters lies something more thoughtful: a challenge to the way we organise our societies, the things we value and the assumptions we make about ourselves. Three hundred years later, there is still plenty for us to learn from Swift.
Seeing things differently
During his travels, the book’s protagonist Lemuel Gulliver encounters people both much smaller and much larger than himself. In Lilliput, he is a giant, and in Brobdingnag, he is tiny. By changing the scale, Swift shows the reader that familiar things can look very different from another perspective.
This is a useful starting point for thinking about environmental change, too. We often focus on the small, everyday choices people make: what we eat, how we travel or what we buy. These choices matter, but they are shaped by the communities, workplaces and wider systems in which we live. Changing our perspective allows us to look at the systems behind our daily choices.
A closer look, for instance, at how much of our daily lives is organised around car ownership, or how difficult it can be to repair something when replacing it is cheaper and easier. Think about how our food system makes some foods readily available while making it difficult for communities to access affordable, locally grown produce. Or how access to green space, clean air and opportunities to connect with nature varies enormously between neighbourhoods.
These are not simply matters of individual preference. They reflect decisions about how resources are distributed, how our society is organised and what we have prioritised to date.
Questioning what we take for granted
In Lilliput, a disagreement about which end of an egg should be broken becomes the cause of bitter division and conflict. Swift is reminding us how easily societies can turn small differences and established conventions into unquestionable truths.
It is worth asking how many things we consider normal today are simply habits we have inherited. Do we really need to consume more, and grow our GDP every year? Does it really make sense that everyone owns and depends on a car? Could our neighbourhoods be places where sharing, repairing and spending time together are part of everyday life?
Changing the way we live begins with having the confidence and creativity to imagine that things could be different. When we come together, share ideas and explore new possibilities, we begin to see beyond what is familiar and discover alternatives that we might not have imagined on our own.
The way we live is not fixed. Together, we can build the confidence and collective capacity to develop new habits, reshape social expectations and make more sustainable ways of living a natural part of community life.
Remembering that we belong to nature
Perhaps the most thought-provoking part of Gulliver’s travels is his encounter with the Houyhnhnms; intelligent horses who live in an apparently harmonious society. Through this unusual encounter, Swift questions humanity’s assumption that we are the measure of all things.
It is a question worth revisiting today. We sometimes speak about nature as though it is somewhere outside our lives, something to protect or visit when we have time. But we are part of the natural world. Our health, happiness and wellbeing are deeply connected to the health of the living systems around us.
Spending time outdoors, growing food, caring for a shared garden or noticing the wildlife in our neighbourhood can help us rediscover that connection. These experiences also remind us that flourishing is something we share with other people and the wider natural world.
Growing change together
At GAP Ireland, we believe that creating a more sustainable world begins with people having the confidence, knowledge and opportunity to imagine and create change together.
Through meaningful relationships, shared experiences and a deeper connection with the natural world, people can discover their own capacity to make a difference and support others to do the same. When people act together, their experiences can build a sense of agency, strengthen relationships and create new possibilities. As others become inspired to take part, new ways of doing things can take root, gradually changing the expectations, practices and norms that shape our everyday lives.