Ten years later, the Greek crisis has led to a breakdown of Mediterranean economies at the south of Europe. In addition, the great migration crisis has brought about the collapse of the entire European Union. The only remaining functioning economies are the ones at the north of Europe ( the Nordic Union ). In the new circumstances, mass tourism seizes to exist and only the “northerners” travel to the south choosing only authentic tourist locations.
The inflow of immigrants to the east of Mediterranean has a significant impact on the local culture and identity. In order to attract tourists from the north of Europe and prove the authenticity of their locations, local municipalities and citizens manipulate the user-generated data. Social digital platforms and rating systems, concepts of the first half of the 21st century, no longer represent reliable evaluation tools. The Nordic Union has turned completely towards the scientific dogmatism, abandoning all information that is not founded in exact scientific facts. The Union employs a licenced company named DOGMA that uses only exact positivist scientific methods from the 20th century and the only reliable means of communication – analogue radio waves, aiming to analyse potential tourist destinations in the south. Recommended destinations are becoming more open to the citizens of the Union.
Southern Comfort focuses on the discrepancy between the north and the south of the present-day Europe. In the new social, political and economic circumstances of the near future, the north sees the emergence of neo-modernist tendencies where scientific positivism and technological objectivity act as forerunners of the dominant ideology. Dystopian scenarios, common for the speculative practice, in line with the Mediterranean approach, are challenged from the humanist perspective. Despite those very disturbing future scenarios, the comfort is found in the fact that human community ( by means of bottom-up activities ) will always find the way to hack and adapt the imposed systems to its own needs and way of life.