Is societal collapse inevitable?
Prof Jem Bendell’s Deep Adaptation paper,
https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf
Abstract
The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide readers with an
opportunity to reassess their work and life in the face of an inevitable near-
term social collapse due to climate change.
The approach of the paper is to analyse recent studies on climate change
and its implications for our ecosystems, economies and societies, as
provided by academic journals and publications direct from research
institutes.
That synthesis leads to a conclusion there will be a near-term collapse in
society with serious ramifications for the lives of readers. The paper reviews
some of the reasons why collapse-denial may exist, in particular, in the
professions of sustainability research and practice, therefore leading to
these arguments having been absent from these fields until now.
The paper offers a new meta-framing of the implications for research,
organisational practice, personal development and public policy, called the
Deep Adaptation Agenda. Its key aspects of resilience, relinquishment and
restorations are explained. This agenda does not seek to build on existing
scholarship on “climate adaptation” as it is premised on the view that social
collapse is now inevitable.
The author believes this is one of the first papers in the sustainability
management field to conclude that climate-induced societal collapse is now
inevitable in the near term and therefore to invite scholars to explore the
implications
The result of these five questions is an article that does not contribute to
one specific set of literature or practice in the broad field of sustainability
management and policy. Rather, it questions the basis for all the work in
this field. It does not seek to add to the existing research, policy and
practice on climate adaptation, as I found that to be framed by the view
that we can manage the impacts of a changing climate on our physical,
economic, social, political and psychological situations. Instead, this article
may contribute to future work on sustainable management and policy as
much by subtraction as by addition. By that I mean the implication is for
you to take a time to step back, to consider "what if" the analysis in these
pages is true, to allow yourself to grieve, and to overcome enough of the
typical fears we all have, to find meaning in new ways of being and acting.
That may be in the fields of academia or management - or could be in some
other field that this realisation leads you to.
Rather than building from existing theories on sustainable business, this
paper is focusing on a phenomenon. That phenomenon is not climate
change per se, but the state of climate change in 2018, which I will argue
from a secondary review of research now indicates near term social
collapse. The gap in the literature that this paper may begin to address is
the lack of discussion within management studies and practice of the end of
the idea that we can either solve or cope with climate change.
I am aware that some people consider statements from
academics that we now face inevitable near-term social collapse to be
irresponsible due to the potential impact that may have on the motivation
or mental health of people reading such statements. My research and
engagement in dialogue on this topic, some of which I will outline in this
paper, leads me to conclude the exact opposite. It is a responsible act to
communicate this analysis now and invite people to support each other,
myself included, in exploring the implications, including the psychological
and spiritual implications.
