I was glad to be at the launch of Breaking Together, the new book and Magnum Opus of Professor Jem Bendell this June in Glastonbury Town Hall. I'd had time to read a couple of chapters before hand and so could tell it was an important book for our movements. I have now completed the audio book in full- so I want to fully and comprehensively endorse this book and encourage you to read it. All the information about how to get a copy are here.
I gave a talk at the launch (What next for the climate and nature movements in the global north) and yet didn't fully appreciate, until completing the book, just how much of my thinking and that of Jem's were aligned.
Jem reviews the data on countries across the world to show why it can be considered that we entered the early stages of societal collapse in 2015. Its a very personally honest book and I hope many in the "Western Democracies" can read it and also reflect on the shadow motivations, avoidance and delusions we are prone to in our work. (In that way I think a great companion book is Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliviera). Jem's book wrestles with the biggest questions of why we are here (interest based money power and our responses to it), where we are heading and how we might meet the unfolding collapse as individuals, communities, movements. There are dire warnings about the direction of travel in eco-authoritarianism and critiques of both globalist agendas and conspiracy porn. A freedom loving response is suggested, with the idea of eco-libertarianism in the spirit of anarchist thinkers like Ocalan and Bookchin.
Jem sticks his head above the parapet (again) with this book and will no doubt be attacked again for it. Might I hope for less sniping on social media and a proper dialogue about the data and ideas put forwards? In any case Jem is already banned from the social media formerly known as twitter....
And more than that I hope Jem now has the time to do what he proposes to us all, which is to slow down enough to be able to face and feel where we are and make decisions on how to live. Having gifted this work of warning and invitation to the world. This isn't at all about giving up, its about getting real together and finding pathways and visions that are based both in facing the depth of the crisis and in engaging with a deeper faith that human beings are fundamentally good and can still, amidst the ruins, be part of healthy human cultures based on love and freedom, in and with nature.
All this said I think Stella's testimony is far better said, so I end by quoting her:
“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