Substack by Florian U. Jehn
Existential Crunch
Existential Crunch is a living literature review about societal collapse by SoDy’s Global Risk Lead, Florian U. Jehn.
Florian takes a look at new and ground-breaking research in the field from a wide variety of angles, with the aim is to utilise his own knowledge and reach to make the topic and study accessible and engaging to anyone who’s interested in learning more about societal collapse.
See some of his posts below and use the sign up box opposite to subscribe to his Substack newsletter!
Mapping out collapse research: Understanding the ways societies end
What are the main schools of collapse research? What even is a collapse? And what causes it? This post provides an overview of the research around societal collapse.
Economic inequality and societal collapse: If you want to have a stable society, make sure no one is left behind.
One thing that comes up again in the research around societal collapse is economic inequality. It seems that there is something about it that makes societies inherently less stable and less able to tackle challenges ahead. This post explores historical case studies around economic inequality and its effects, the problems of inequality across different time horizons and how historically we managed to reduce economic inequality.
Democratic Resilience: Democracies increase resilience, but are (somewhat) in decline.
Democracies boost societal resilience but face decline. They manage crises better, promote public accountability, and use citizens’ assemblies for forward-thinking solutions. Yet, they stagnate due to globalization, inequality, individualism, and corporate influence. Strengthening democracies requires more participation, representation, and equality.