Dancing on the volcano: social exploration in times of discontent

Abstract

Radical recent developments such as Brexit, the rise of extreme nationalism, the gilets jaunes, polarizing leaders, the Arab Spring, and fundamentalist movements are indications of societal discontent with the status quo. Other societal phenomena such as gender fluidity, veganism, and bartering are also associated with a perceived need to change. The context is the Anthropocene, a humandominated biosphere challenging the resilience of a livable planet. Such a broad set of developments may be interpreted in the light of new insights from theory of complex systems about what happens as resilience of the current pathway (societal organization as we know it) decreases. Rising fluctuations characterize a phase of uncertainty and exploration, potentially leading into a transition of the system toward a new pathway. We reflect on global changes that may contribute to social destabilization such as rising wealth concentration and environmental degradation and ask how responses may be understood from social-psychological forces such as the need for group identity and managing the terror of mortality. The emerging image is that of a society engaged in multifaceted experimentation. Maintaining such experimentation may help inspire novel pathways to desirable futures, but there is a risk of societies becoming trapped in backward-looking narratives that threaten long-term sustainable outcomes.Ecology and Society 24(1): 23 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss1/art23/ remains whether these alternatives can mature quickly enough to offer real pathways for transformation or viable alternatives to the unstable status quo (Westley et al. 2017).

The emergence and evolution of Earth System Science

“…These approaches can also provide vital guidance for formulating policy and management in the Anthropocene 125 . Although long-ignored by the physical perspectives that have dominated ESS, understanding these human dynamics is essential for the effective guidance systems required for steering the future trajectory of the system 115,126,127 .…”

Transformative spaces in the making: key lessons from nine cases in the Global South

“…With these guiding questions, the design thinking of this phase requires knowledge on the historicity of the problem, the drivers and barriers for resolving the problem and the evidence of maladaptive or unsustainable system states. There is a need from the start to establish that there may be multiple perspectives on understanding why and how the system in question is "locked-in" to the problems, or in a potentially intransient state (Carpenter et al 2019).…”

Improving Climate Change Mitigation Analysis: A Framework for Examining Feasibility

“…The reduction in the drivers of climate change-typically expressed as emissions reductions in CO 2 equivalents-that would result if a mitigation opportunity were completely realized or an initiative fully achieved its objectives ll feasibility is highly dependent on context, as it varies across and within countries; across technologies and initiatives; across the individuals, organizations, or social systems that are both agents and targets of initiatives; and over time. 9,[15][16][17] The concept of feasibility combines two elements: the potential for change agents to adopt and implement initiatives (IF) 10,18,19 and the extent to which the targets of initiatives respond to them as intended (BP). 15 We elaborate on these distinctions below.…”