The Francophone World in an Era of Collapse

If modern societies are breaking down, is there a political movement ready to soften the collapse and begin anew? Or do we need new ideas and organisations for collective action? Might a local focus be the only meaningful approach as industrial consumer systems decline? Or is this a period that calls for greater international solidarity with those suffering the most? I think the conversations and initiatives in the Francophone world will provide us many insights on these questions, for a number of reasons, which I’ll come to in a moment. That’s why I will celebrate the release of the free ebook version of S’effondrer Ensemble, with a gathering in Grenoble, France on October 30th. I will be joined by some members of the translation team and other special guests who are leading in the field of climate adaptation. If you can make it to Minimistan for 6pm, it will be a chance to meet others who are taking this topic seriously (just come, you don’t need to register). 

The Francophone world will continue to be important on this predicament, for at least three reasons. Firstly, scholars in the French language have led the way in making the subject of modern societal collapse an important and unavoidable one. Authors Pablo Servigne, Raphaël Stevens and Gauthier Chapelle have pioneered the field of ‘collapsology’ with their series of books, starting in 2015 with ‘Comment tout peut s’effondrer’. Positive reception for their ideas in France included many senior scholars and even politicians. That is reflected in how French scientists were the largest group of signatories to the Scholars’ Warning on societal disruption and collapse. 

A second reason for its importance is the nature of French politics. The country has a stable tradition of leftwing organising, which maintains its connections with the working class and farmers, unlike in other countries like the UK. The Left surprised some with their showing at the last national election in France. The counter manoeuvre by President Macron to appoint a Prime Minister from a minority right wing party proves beyond doubt his allegiance to globalist technocrats, rather than the will of the people. France therefore remains a country of the nearly free. It also has a tradition of valiant failure in countering US hegemony, offset with its own imperialism – both domestic and foreign. Domestically, its leaders chose to oppress its own people through the launch of an unaccountable European Central Bank which enforces a neoliberal straightjacket on the political sphere (see Chapters 2 and 10 of S’effondrer Ensemble). Internationally, it suffers the occasional imperialist spasm, such as its role in the destruction of Libya, which turned the most economically advanced African nation (providing jobs for migrants) into a source of mass migration across the Mediterranean that then triggered the rise of the right.

The French security state remains an important player, partly due to its close involvement in protecting the perceived interests of its nuclear industry (as a major energy source and supplier of precursors to its nuclear arsenal). Their past suppression of environmentalists even included murder, with the famous case of them blowing up the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. Despite a repressive state, there is the potential for France to develop an important flavour of ‘doomsterism’, in both practical and political ways, in the years ahead. In the short term, they might be thwarted by French elites wanting the far right to win power with their fake promise of change while actually defending incumbent power, as has occurred with Meloni in Italy. However, in the longer term, the French political culture is likely to foster a politics of solidarity for an age of collapse, and I hope my book might add to their efforts.

Third, and more important than France, are the current trends in Francophone Africa. In the last few years there has been a wave of anti-imperialist sentiment, leading to political revolutions. In some cases, politicians who have been regarded as serving French corporate interests have been voted out and in other cases removed by mostly peaceful coups. The recently elected president of Senegal, has explained the need for an explicit anti-imperialist policy agenda, while other activists are clear that there needs to be a unified African movement to resist the imperialists. In other countries the military has moved to help change government. Whether they will follow through on their commitments to return countries to democracies which aren’t distorted by foreign corporate influence is still to be seen. This situation is somewhat confusing for progressives in the West who criticise the exploitation that leads to poverty and ecological destruction but don’t want any perceived shame from giving tacit support to a military coup. That’s why it is interesting to see the evolution of some founders of Extinction Rebellion towards active solidarity with the anti-imperialists of West Africa. They recognise that only in a world with fairer terms of trade and control of resources, will there be any chance of a reduction in the ecological footprint of richer countries and their elites. Degrowth in the West without anti-imperialism in the Majority World is a myth of the privileged. 

You might have guessed that the French security state doesn’t like this trend in its former colonies who are the current suppliers of its cheap raw materials. So long as the topic of collapse remains a niche idea within a marginal green left in France, it is not regarded as a threat to power. That’s because they can easily be contained by introducing dialogic processes that keep them arguing with each other until judgement day. However, any activity which might add fuel to the new wave of anti-imperialism in Africa is not welcome. A few of my African friends have pointed out how significant it will be for the younger generations across Africa to realise that their current difficulties and terrifying futures are the result of extractivist colonialist systems that poisoned the world and created a hostile climate. They think it would likely consolidate the recent anti-imperialism, and lead to very clear clashes with the new eco-imperialist agenda coming from Western eco-modernists who want all the critical minerals from under African feet. Maybe this concern from the security state is why I’ve already witnessed efforts to disrupt promotion of my work in Francophone Africa. Therefore, I’m making the ebook free, immediately, and want to ask you for help… 

Do you know anyone in, or from, Francophone Africa? Please take a moment to think of that…and if you do, then please send an email to a few connections with a link to the following page (in French) with the free epub to download: https://jembendell.com/seffondrer-ensemble-epub/

(…as it’s my birthday today, your help spreading the messages where it matters would be the best gift. Thx, Jem).

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