Description:
As solarpunks, we have to consider the possibility of collapse. Matthew Azoulay–aka EpicTomorrows–introduces us to collapse awareness, a view of the climate crisis which accepts the inevitability of societal collapse on some level. We’ll hear a bit about his forthcoming book, an anthology of global perspectives on collapse, as well as how this view might fit within a solarpunk perspective.
Help launch the book by Nov. 15th: Ecological crisis, revolutionary change & collapse
Mentions/Sources:
- EpicTomorrows on YouTube
- A Radical Guide
- Diamond, J M. (2011). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. London: Penguin.
- Note from Matthew: I need to be very clear, some of Diamond’s scholarship has now been discredited, but this does not change his essential definition of collapse which I still think is the most useful one. Diamond defines collapse as, ‘A drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time’ (Diamond 2011: 3). He developed a single general formula outlining how many of the world’s great civilizations fell, a process he explains as ‘ecocide’. Ecocide, as the name suggests, describes a society that destroys the very environment upon which they depend, thus ensuring its own demise (Diamond 2011: 6).
- Total Societal Collapse by 2040? (MIT report summarised by ‘Down To Earth’ on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE50z-C-gGA
- The Green Transition will not work as planned, what might we do instead? – Professor Simon Michaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbnXMv19Hck&t=1s
Recommended Reading:
- An open access literature review of societal collapse
- All planetary boundaries mapped out for the first time, six of nine crossed, by Stockholm Resilience Centre
- Breaking Together free e-book, by Jem Bendell (assessment that collapse is already happening, with suggestion of ‘ecolibertarian’ response, with a nod to Murray Bookchin)
- What Is Social Ecology? by Murray Bookchin
Solarpunk Now! is written, hosted, and produced by Luka Dowell. The solarpunk theme is by Red Keener.
Support my work: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/solarpunkcast
Follow the show on Twitter at @solarpunkcast or Mastodon @solarpunkcast@spore.social!