Societal collapse: a literature review

Societal collapse: a literature review

Because of concerns that ongoing climate change could lead to a possible collapse of human civilization, the topic of societal (civilization) collapse has emerged as especially relevant, not least for the futures-oriented studies. While this has led to extensive...
Is “Polycrisis” the right word for our times?

Is “Polycrisis” the right word for our times?

The folks who warn about a polycrisis argue that it is not just components within a single system that are tightly interconnected. It is the systems themselves — health, geopolitics, the environment — that are increasingly interacting and tightly coupled. Therefore,...
The Great Progression 2025-2050

The Great Progression 2025-2050

“We may not yet see what’s really happening around us now, and what actually will happen in the next 25 years. But people in the future, and maybe for a long time into the future, will look back and fully appreciate what we are about to accomplish. People in 100...
The Year of the Polycrisis

The Year of the Polycrisis

This past year was the year that the polycrisis exploded as a global meme. “Polycrisis” was the word of the year 2022 in the Collins Dictionary. The World Economic Forum in Davos where the ultra-wealthy and their acolytes gather to pontificate declared 2023 “the...
Davos man must pay

Davos man must pay

To mitigate the worst effects of climate change and prevent societal breakdown, we must shift to renewable energies and reduce extreme inequality. But doing so would require massive increases in public spending, which is why governments must overhaul their outdated...
The verbs of resilience

The verbs of resilience

Resilience (of the right things) seems self-evidently valuable, but is it more than a buzzword? If so, how do we put it into practice? What exactly do we do for people, systems and organizations to help them become resilient? And how do we measure the...
So we’re in a polycrisis. Is that even a thing?

So we’re in a polycrisis. Is that even a thing?

If so, this polycrisis presumably replaces the “tripledemic” we recently survived, and may yet blend into the “permacrisis” (Collins Dictionary Word of the Year in 2022). It could also join the “megathreats” out there. Or it may revert to being a good old-fashioned...