In this article, Richard Heinberg discusses why cascading disruptions of environmental and political systems are entangled and mutually reinforcing. He also attempts to identify the next stages of global collapse and explore options for individuals and communities to survive while minimizing harm and suffering.
Environmental-Political Collapse Accelerates Read More »
This article discusses whether current crises will contribute to civilizational breakdown or whether humanity will successfully rise to such challenges.
The Disruption Nexus Read More »
In this book, Naudé argues that neither “Green Growth” nor “Degrowth” can achieve the “Great Decoupling.” Naudé explores the possibility of societal collapse and reflects on civilization’s capacity for recovery.
Economic growth and societal collapse: Beyond Green Growth and Degrowth fairy tales Read More »
This book explains how the “planetary polycrisis” will disrupt the global community in the coming decades and how humanity can best meet these challenges. Albert argues that we must devote more attention to the study of possible futures and adopt transdisciplinary approaches to do so.
Navigating the Polycrisis, Mapping the Futures of Capitalism and the Earth Read More »
In the Cascading Risks Study, author Trond Undheim seeks to create five scenarios (Climate cataclysm by 2075; World war by 2075; Growth and collapse by 2075; Runaway AI by 2075; and Synthetic biology released in the wild by 2075 ) with which to spur deeper conversation about the existential risks to humanity and how they
Scenarios 2075: The Cascading Risks Study Read More »
Roman Krznaric explores the conditions in which crises lead to transformative societal change. He finds that transformative responses are most common in conditions of war, disaster, revolution, and disruption. The latter refers to “a moment of system instability that provides opportunities for rapid transformation” which is created by the “disruption nexus” of crisis events (typically
The Disruption Nexus Read More »
Global Tipping Points is a report, led by the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute and funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, that identifies negative and positive tipping points with regards to ongoing global crises. According to the report, the existence of negative tipping points shows that the threats posed by the current crises we
Global Tipping Points Report 2023 Read More »
The authors argue that the current body of research into societal crises—defined here as “periods of turmoil and destabilization in socio-cultural, political, economic, and other systems, often accompanied by varying amounts of violence and sometimes significant changes in social structure”—concentrates on a narrow selection of historical examples. Addressing this, the authors compile a database of
This paper compares conceptualizations of the term “polycrisis,” raising questions about the key aspects of different definitions while stressing a convergence in critical features. It conceives a polycrisis as a state in which multiple, macroregional, ecologically embedded, and inexorably interconnected systems face high – and advancing – risk across socioeconomic, political, and other dimensions. After
Understanding Polycrisis: Definitions, Applications, and Responses Read More »
This edited volume argues that humanity has entered a fundamentally novel era of existential risk. These risks range from global-scale natural disasters (like volcanic super-eruptions) to anthropogenic environmental destabilization (like climate change and loss of biosphere integrity), and from calamities that spread rapidly around our highly networked planet (like viruses and cyber threats) to the
The Era of Global Risk: An Introduction to Existential Risk Studies Read More »
