Breaking Together
// Listen to full session here //
Sociologist Jem Bendell believes that the process of civilisational collapse has begun – in our case driven by damage we have caused to Earth’s natural systems. He argues that governments and corporations are not going to save us and that the best we can hope for is to soften and adapt to unfolding crises. Are we going to cling to the old ways, fighting each other for the final scraps amidst the ruins of our world? Or are we going to rethink our place in a failing world and ‘break together’– gracefully supporting each other through collapse and transition?
Jem Bendell appears exclusively in Sydney at FODI.
Jem Bendell [INDO/UK]
After 17 years working around the world with large companies, charities, politicians and UN agencies on issues of environment and development, in 2012 Jem Bendell settled back in the UK as a full professor in a business school. But after 10 years in that role, he quit to launch an organic farm school, Bekandze Farm, in Indonesia. Such a shift was seeded for Jem in 2017 when he took a year off to look more closely at the latest climate science and data. The resulting “Deep Adaptation” paper was downloaded over a million times and is widely credited with helping inspire the growth of the Extinction Rebellion movement. His book Breaking Together goes further by outlining a political ethos for an era of societal disruption and collapse. In his new way of life, Jem also plays devotional music and releases songs with the band Barefoot Stars. Jem blogs at jembendell.com
Natasha Mitchell
Natasha Mitchell is a multi-award-winning journalist and presenter of ABC Radio National’s flagship Big Ideas, hosted its popular daily Life Matters, was a founding host and creator of the blockbuster radio show and trailblazing podcast All in the Mind for a decade, and also of Science Friction. Natasha served as World Federation of Science Journalists’ vice president, was awarded a prestigious MIT Knight Fellowship, and has won the Grand Prize and four Gold World Medals at the New York Radio Festivals.
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We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country on which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
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