Breaking Together: A freedom-loving response to collapse

Book Synopsis: “This is a prophetic book” Satish Kumar, founder, Schumacher CollegeThe collapse of modern societies has 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 & nature to such an extent it broke the foundations of our societies. So what should we do? This book describes people allowing the full pain of our predicament to liberate them into living more courageously & 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 & regenerate the natural world. Escaping the efforts of panicking elites, we can advance an ecolibertarian agenda for both politics & practical action in a broken world.“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“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“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 & 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

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 & grow
13. Freedom from fake green globalists

Conclusion

“Breaking Together constructs a comprehensive, compelling yet nuanced argument that societal collapse is well underway. Professor 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

A free epub is available later in 2023.