BREAKING TOGETHER – a freedom-loving response to collapse

“Breaking Together – a freedom-loving response to collapse” is out in hardback and e-book as well as paperback and audiobook. If you use a kindle, you can order in the USA or in the UK or worldwide (by typing ‘breaking together’ into your ‘national’ amazon site). The book is also available as a free epub.

From the back cover:

“This is a prophetic book.”  Satish Kumar, founder, Schumacher College

“This book shows that instead of imposing elitist schemes and scams, regenerating nature and culture together is the only way forward.” Dr Stella Nyambura Mbau, Loabowa Kenya

“This book is part of a healing movement that extends beyond what we normally think of as ecological.” Charles Eisenstein, author, Climate: A New Story

The collapse of modern societies has already begun. That is the conclusion of two years of research by the interdisciplinary team behind Breaking Together. How did it come to this? Because monetary systems caused us to harm each other and nature to such an extent it broke the foundations of our societies. So what can we do? This book describes people allowing the full pain of our predicament to liberate them into living more courageously and creatively. They demonstrate we can be breaking together, not apart, in this era of collapse. Jem Bendell argues that reclaiming our freedoms is essential to soften the fall and regenerate the natural world. Escaping the efforts of panicking elites, we can advance an ecolibertarian agenda for both politics and practical action in a broken world.

“A signpost for people made politically homeless by the craziness of the last few years.” Aaron Vandiver, author, Under a Poacher’s Moon. 

“The mother of all ‘mic drops’ on the myth of sustainable development.” Katie Carr, Deep Adaptation Forum

“A new compass for navigating collapse.” Pablo Servigne and Raphael Stevens, authors, Another End of the World is Possible

“If you want to save some of the world but hate being told what to do, this book is for you.” Clare Farrell, co-founder, Extinction Rebellion 

You can listen to the introduction for free here.

Contents
Introduction
1 Economic collapse
2 Monetary collapse
3 Energy collapse
4 Biosphere collapse
5 Climate collapse
6 Food collapse
7 Societal collapse
8 Freedom to know
9 Freedom from progress
10 Freedom from banking
11 Freedom in nature
12 Freedom to collapse and grow
13 Freedom from fake green globalists
Conclusion

Published by Good Works, an imprint of The Schumacher Institute, the paperback and epub will be available in June 2023. The cover art “Kintsugi Atlas” is by Darinka Montico and myself. There are many people to thank who helped make this book happen, but I will do that in the book itself. 

It may seem the conclusions of the book are quite bold and contestable. So, to get a sense of the amount of research that has gone into the book, you can download a pre-released chapter on food system breakdown. Dr Katja Hujo from the UN endorsed that by explaining that my “paper (and forthcoming book) is a wake-up call that our global food systems are approaching global breakdown due to a number of interlinked hard trends, from biophysical limits of food production and climate change to growing demand and the destructive implications of our profit-oriented capitalist system. The application of interdisciplinary integrative analysis and the emphasis on economic, social, technological and ecological dimensions of the challenge ahead helps to grapple with the complexity of the issue and to avoid simplistic solutions. It is an analysis that motivates the reader to act at multiple fronts and critically engage with a topic that has a huge bearing on the future of humanity.”

Fifty years after the publication of EF Schumacher’s ecological masterpiece, Small is Beautiful, I am honoured that my book is being published by Good Works (named after another of his books), which is an imprint of the Schumacher Institute. When asked about my book by GQ Magazine for a profile in their forthcoming issue, I explained: “After two years analysing the research on the state of the world, it turned out I was wrong to conclude back in 2018 that the collapse of modern societies was inevitable, as it had already begun by then. The data from different domains hadn’t been pieced together properly before, to relate the many disruptions we already experience to a fracturing of the foundations, both natural and societal, that keep everything going.” 

Further support for Breaking Together:

“Breaking Together constructs a comprehensive, compelling yet nuanced argument that societal collapse is well underway. Professor Jem Bendell skillfully and seamlessly integrates personal reflection and hard data from virtually every domain to provide a unique vision of catagenesis – the creative renewal of post collapse society. He advocates for an ecolibertarian rather than the ecoauthoritarian world that is beginning to emerge. While It’s often a cliché if the reader has but one book to choose to read this year, it should be Breaking Together. That said, please center yourself as you engage with this brilliant, heartfelt, disturbing and often heartbreaking story of the possible futures that will touch everyone of the 8 billion of us.” Herb Simmens, author, A Climate Vocabulary of the Future

“Our societies are breaking because of damage to the living systems of our planet.  It’s time to face this reality and this book helps us do just that. As further collapse unfolds we need a practical alternative to global panic. Jem Bendell has got one – restoring community self-reliance as a global effort.” Pooran Desai OBE, CEO, OnePlanet

“Pretty much no one has thought more thoroughly than Jem Bendell about the collapse of societies and what it means for us as emotional creatures, and this book is his definitive word on many years of work. In Breaking Together, he lays out the evidence that collapse is now under way, and the clarity he gained by accepting that. It’s a devastating book, but perfectly so.” Ben Knight, Film Director, We’re All Going To Die.

“Breaking Together provides an impressive and sobering analysis of what is happening in societies and the biosphere, why ‘we’ (in modern cultures) didn’t know sooner, and what realistic choices remain, both individually and collectively. Jem and his team didn’t just stare into the abyss – they spent two years mapping it for us. This book represents the mother of all ‘mic drops’ on the myth of sustainable development. As well as offering a detailed examination of interconnected systems that are currently in disarray, this book provides essential wisdom on the necessity of staying engaged politically and socially, whilst attending to the toxic psycho-social patterns that need healing if we are to retain dignity and justice in the coming years.” Katie Carr, Deep Adaptation Forum

“In Breaking Together, Jem Bendell brings a sober realism to the study of industrial civilization’s collapse, while balancing it with heart, creativity, and a stubborn belief in our capacity to respond to crisis with both compassion and courage. In contrast to many authors in the field, Bendell doesn’t shy away from confronting the coercive systems of political and economic power that drive collapse. The resulting analysis is bracing, radical, and immensely helpful for those seeking to live a purposeful life in an age of societal breakdown.” Kevin MacKay, Radical Transformation, Oligarchy, Collapse, and the Crisis of Civilization

“This is a prophetic book. We must pay attention to the warnings of Jem Bendell. His book highlights some uncomfortable truths. Modernity founded on unending economic growth, unlimited pollution of our precious planet Earth and mindless exploitation of natural resources cannot last forever. This wasteful, materialist, industrial juggernaut was always destined to collapse. Even if you do not agree with Jem’s conclusions I recommend you make time to ponder them. For it is better to be warned and prepared, than to face the consequences of collapse unawares.” Satish Kumar, Founder, Schumacher College and Editor Emeritus, Resurgence & Ecologist

“A kind of good cheer and optimism pervades this sober chronicle of ecologically-driven societal collapse. That optimism carries truth. Jem Bendell sees the opportunity for transformation in our current crisis. This book is part of a healing movement that extends beyond what we normally think of as ecological.” Charles Eisenstein, author, Climate: A New Story. 

“Can we meet these momentous times with less fear? Less pretence? With more courage and creativity? I think ‘Breaking Together’ may help. By integrating insights from a broad range of scholarship, it invites us to understand the full significance of what’s happening. It then suggests a new agenda for radical politics, beyond the superficiality that besets both left and right. Freedom from the demands of capital and patriarchal authority will be key. If you want to save some of the world but hate being told what to do, then this book is for you.” Clare Farrell, co-founder, Extinction Rebellion

“Breaking Together is a signpost for people made politically homeless by the craziness of the last few years. It offers something that has been missing: a radical freedom-loving agenda for the ecological crisis. Jem Bendell provides a much-needed alternative to the technological obsessions and authoritarian impulses of an environmental movement that is responding to crisis by acquiescing to failing systems of power, rather than seeking freedom from them. Coming from someone with inside knowledge of globalist organisations before rejecting them so totally, it is a powerful contribution. I hope this book will help more of us let go of old stories, so new ones can emerge in this era of collapsing systems.” Aaron Vandiver, author, Under a Poacher’s Moon. 

“Finally a Western environmentalist calls BS on their profession, and sees solidarity with the anti-imperialists and defenders of communities in the Majority World to be central to responding as one humanity in this era of collapse. This book shows that instead of imposing elitist schemes and scams, regenerating nature and culture together is the only way forward. Let’s get on with it.” Dr Stella Nyambura Mbau, Loabowa Kenya 

“If you feel like you have been losing your bearings as society falls apart, this frank, sensitive and intelligent book provides a new compass for navigating collapse.” Pablo Servigne and Raphael Stevens, authors, Another End of the World is Possible

“Our task – and the task of all education – is to understand the present world, the world in which we live and make our choices,” said E.F. Schumacher in 1973. Well, fifty years later I hope my book helps with understanding the present world in that way. You can pre-order your copy of “Breaking Together: A freedom-loving response to collapse”.

Seek mutual support on these issues via the Deep Adaptation Forum.

Donate to keep Jem writing / Read Jem’s book Breaking Together / Read Jem’s key ideas on collapse readiness / Subscribe to this blog / Read the Scholars’ Warning / Visit the Deep Adaptation Forum / Receive Jem’s Biannual Bulletin / Receive the Deep Adaptation Review / Watch some of Jem’s talks / Find Emotional Support.