The author examines the trajectory of global capitalist civilization through the lens of systemic collapse, drawing on historical analogies, ecological constraints, and geopolitical scenarios. He argues against binary scenarios of either total cooperation or complete breakdown, proposing instead that collapse is a complex and multidimensional process. The article highlights how capitalism’s internal contradictions, ecological overshoot, and socio-political fragmentation are deeply interconnected, and suggests that collapse may unfold both from the top down through institutional disintegration and from the bottom up through grassroots disengagement and alternative value systems. It calls for rethinking how society is organized across ecological, economic, institutional, and cultural dimensions.
How and when will our civilization die?
Author(s)
Gunnar Rundgren
Publication Date
24 October 2025
Publisher
Garden Earth - Beyond sustainability
DOI / URL
Resource Type
Newsletter
