Author: jembendell

I'm a British national living in Indonesia. I am known for my work on societal collapse risk and response. That includes the Deep Adaptation paper and Breaking Together book. I cofounded Scholars’ Warning to help academics communicate about a post-Sustainability agenda for reducing harm in the face of catastrophic ecological change. I cofounded Bekandze Farm School to enable smallholders to switch to organic and resilient farming methods. Last year I quit my full Professorship to focus on deep adaptation to societal disruption and collapse.

We Still Care – Doomster Characteristics

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I made a mistake in my book Breaking Together, when I included a box on ‘doomster characteristics’. That was in Chapter 12, where I was explaining many people accept that societal collapse is occurring, or coming soon, and are integrating that into how they live positively. One of the curators of the postdoom collective, Karen Perry, pointed out to me that my box was describing benefits of being a ‘doomster’ rather than their common characteristics. That got me thinking. I realized that there are some ways of being that many collapse-accepting people exhibit, which I think are important to recognize and cherish at this time. So, I wrote it up.

Why does that matter? Might it be more intellectual blather from a guy who can’t stop writing? Well, I will come back to that 😉 But I think this discussion matters because of the importance of perceived identities in public discussion. Those professionals who oppose us waking up to our predicament have been misrepresenting our motivations and characteristics for years in ways that turn people away from exploring more. Therefore, it is useful to be clearer about what our motivations are and explain what we see as some common characteristics. As a conversation starter, I will list five of them below.

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Crazy Cat Lad Writes Song

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What kind of music is related to deep adaptation? I wondered this recently. I don’t think it’s music about doom and gloom. Instead, it is anything which invites us to connect with our hearts, remember ancient wisdom, feel gratitude for what has been and still is, accept loss and death as natural, and recommit to conscious living no matter what lies ahead.

With my new band, Barefoot Stars, I’m releasing songs that I wrote from such emotions. ‘Healing Hearts‘ is about allowing endings with the knowledge something new will emerge. My latest release, ‘Mystical Cat‘ is not only about a deeper appreciation of nature, as reflected in our pets, but also about the significance of life not depending on its duration (you need to wait for the 3rd verse to hear that though). I wrote the song the night Amy died. She was a rescue kitten, adopted from Villa Kitty in Bali. She was the first non-human creature I met who had a sense of humour, not just play. Getting to know her opened my mind and heart to the depth of thought and emotion that’s possible in life other than human. That paved the wave for me to rescue a black kitten from the Brahma Vihara Temple, and he accompanied me during a reclusive 21 months when I wrote and released Breaking Together.

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Internationalize the collapse conversation with me

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Thank you for following my blog. In the spirit of “if you don’t ask you can’t get…”

If you would like to see wider communication of the analysis and ideas of deep adaptation and ecofreedom, then I want to ask for the following help. Here are some things that I believe would have significant impact and I can implement efficiently:

  • Audio Book of Breaking Together in French – that will help reach French, Canadian and African audiences. The French book is out next month, and will be available as a free epub early next year. Funding required: 3k usd.  
  • Audio Book of Breaking Together in Spanish – will help reach Latin American audiences. The Spanish book is out in October, and will be available as a free epub early next year. Funding required: 3k usd.   
  • Translation of Breaking Together into Russian. For sale and also free epub release in 2025. Funding required: 8k usd.
  • Scholarships for activists from all corners of the world to attend the “Leading Through Collapse” courses with me for free. Funding required: 400 usd per person.
  • Design and delivery of an online course on collapse readiness from a collaborative and non-defensive perspective. In English with a ‘freemium’ model of participation. Funding required: 10k usd.
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Staying Curious During Collapse

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On this day 6 years ago, I released through my university the ‘Deep Adaptation’ (DA) paper on climate chaos. Since then, I’ve been experiencing a range of emotions that arise from my view of the situation and the reactions of other people to that – and learning how to be OK with that. I’ve also been experimenting with ways of living differently as my old sense of self broke apart. These two themes were the focus of a new documentary about my life that was shown on Dutch TV a few weeks ago. The filmmakers made it beautiful and so I recommend watching below on YouTube or Odysee.

The emotional side of researching, communicating, and educating on collapse has been colourful and, at times, draining. I made and lost friends. I gained allies and enemies. I lost and gained a way of life. I wonder whether I could have learned anywhere near as much about psychology and spirituality without the emotional roller-coaster of becoming public about collapse risk and readiness. 6 years after the release of the DA paper, I want to share some reflections on the conflictual side of me coming out as a ‘doomster’.  

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Dancing for Peace in an Era of Collapse

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There are many ways of living with ‘collapse acceptance’. My own approach doesn’t represent the best one. To acknowledge the diversity, and help us all learn from that, once in a while I ask a colleague or friend to share some thoughts on how they are responding. Katie Carr was a founding member of the Deep Adaptation Forum and teaches the ‘Leading Through Collapse’ course with me (online twice a year and for one time only in the States this October). I asked her to share why a dance camp is one of her most restorative activities of the year. I hope it inspires. Thx, Jem

By Katie Carr

I recently returned from rural Oxfordshire in the UK, where I joined around 300 people from across the country to dance in a circle while chanting songs and mantras from many different spiritual traditions. Sacred Arts Camp is an annual week-long community event, where we camp in small circles, sharing cooking, care, and connection. Every time I attend, I am reminded of the importance of this kind of embodied and joyful ritual, especially as the world and our day-to-day lives seem to become more precarious. I also remember how much my heart longs for the experience of community and belonging that are so difficult to imagine, let alone co-create, in the midst of industrialised consumer societies.

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Should the UN just sod off?

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If we conclude that current difficulties are aspects of an unfolding collapse of societies around the world, what might we want to see from officials in the United Nations system?

That was a question posed to me recently by an initiative which recognizes something of the scale of the challenges faced and wants to communicate that to professionals involved in international affairs. They include not only international civil servants, but also governmental officials in foreign relations, international development and environmental issues.

Having worked in the UN system in various research roles, as well as with international NGOs, I recognize the conclusion that because we have global problems, we need globally coordinated action. Since the 1990s, I wrote a lot of published papers with that in mind, including some reports for the United Nations. But years later, I now see the hope people have in the UN system in contrast to the reality of its ineffectiveness and the growing suspicion that parts of it, such as the WHO, have been hijacked by a global managerial elite (who have bad ideas on most things). I have come to see that although many international civil servants do important work on the ground in some countries, many of them in the headquarters are involved in a deadly charade, where their status, income, and emotional stability lead them to lie to themselves and to the public about our planetary predicament, its causes and what to do about it. This is exemplified by their continued lie that ‘sustainable development’ is possible, despite years of data now proving the critiques from decades ago that it was capitalist-friendly ideological tosh. For one year I discussed and corresponded with various professionals in the field of sustainable development about why they continue the charade and heard what I described as their ‘deadly sins of denial’ in an article for Brave New Europe.

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No More Warnings Needed – an intransigent managerial class must be sidestepped

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Six hundred and seventy-four scholars from 53 countries, believe that “Only if policymakers begin to discuss this threat of societal collapse might communities and nations begin to prepare and so reduce its likelihood, speed, severity, harm to the most vulnerable, and to nature.” Each signatory, with doctoral degree, endorsed a public warning on societal disruption and collapse due to environmental change. They cover more than 20 major academic disciplines, including ecology and climatology, thereby conclusively demonstrating that preparations for societal collapse are being taken seriously by experts from around the world. The announcement of the final list of signatories concludes a 3-year initiative to promote awareness of the scientific basis for exploring how to reduce the damage from societal disruption, breakdown, and collapse, due to environmental change.

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The Emperor’s New Lab Coat

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Mainstream media are ignoring a scientist who is whistleblowing the climate profession.

During the five years since new kinds of activism brought the climate issue into the headlines like never before, the topic has more clearly become one where people respond due to their preexisting worldviews. It’s not just believers and sceptics, but there are those who think technology can save us, those who think it’s too late; those who think the science is clear, others who think it is open; those who believe humans will muddle through and those predicting human extinction. Climate scientists themselves now range from those emphasizing ‘we can do this’ to those that express their grief and outrage by gluing themselves to buildings. Meanwhile, misleading narratives are amplified by a variety of vested interests, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and clean tech. Climatologist Dr Wolfgang Knorr is an unusual voice in this cacophony because he has been ‘blowing the whistle’ on the climate science itself and how it is being communicated. His perspective hasn’t found wealthy supporters or mainstream platforms, and so his voice hasn’t been much heard, which is why I want to bring it to your attention here.

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Expressing ourselves and trying to help, without it mattering

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Beyond Mattering
Do I matter?
Is that my driver?
If I matter, then I matter,
With no question, no trying.
To accept I matter, without condition,
Is something I could feel from within,
But can I?
Perhaps with the help of a mantra,
On losing my need to matter.
So, let’s make it now:
I shall not need to matter
But it’s welcome when I do
And I won’t need to have mattered
But it’s welcome if that’s true
Neither will I need to be heard to know
Or known for who I am
For that would be joining a very pointless queue.
But there go those bells from the temple
Durga doesn’t quite agree
She’s sending me some edits
To this mantra on feeling free.
So, let’s try again:
I really won’t matter much
But it’s welcome when I do
And I haven’t mattered much
But it’s welcome if that’s true
I won’t be heard that much
Or much known for who I am
For that’s an endless queue.
I write these words to clarify
And remind my future self
But will I share these words somewhere?
Or leave them on the shelf?
Oh, this need runs deep
To matter
To matter
To ‘share’ to matter
But Durga’s bells remind me
that sharing can be okay
Because, after all
It just won’t matter.
Not much, anyway.
(June 2020, edited June 2023, by me)

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Real allyship in an age of collapse – supporting anti-imperialism

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A year ago, the co-founder of the activist group Extinction Rebellion joined me in Glastonbury Town Hall to mark the launch of Breaking Together and put it in the context of a liminal space that environmental activism had entered. A year on, an edited version of Gail Bradbrook’s talk is featured in the May/June issue of Resurgence Magazine. In that time, have been impressed by how Gail has been exploring forms of international solidarity for an era of disruption and collapse. That is because it can be easy to turn inward, either by arguing over agendas that will probably never win power in the West, or trying to prepare one’s own community for further decline and disruption. I don’t disparage such a focus, but it can lead to a lack of attention to the wider world, and how we influence it. Or might do if we tried. Therefore, I’d like to share with you a recent blog from Gail where she offers reflections on solidarity with the revived anti-imperialism movements in Africa. Comments are welcome below. Thx, Jem

The leadership able to bring about a “Just Transition” – how we join our global family to unplug the death machine. By Gail Bradbrook.

As Europeans, MEPs and movement founders, we are honoured to have been invited to support a delegation study visit to the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger). We have found common cause with our family in the Sahel; here’s why we believe this matters immensely to you too.

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