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Peter Gelderloos: From the Margins to the Future. Cultures that can Survive Eco-Apocalypse

We are facing a complex, entangled ecological crisis that is already causing the extinction of countless species and the destruction of habitats all over the world, as well as tens of millions of human deaths every year. With the crisis getting worse at an accelerating rate, there is a growing possibility that our current global civilization may collapse.


The common imaginary of what collapse looks like is bleak. Rather than ignoring what feel like impossible circumstances, we need a greater deal of realism, imagination, and historical awareness. The hegemonic global culture is based on colonialism, domination, and extraction. It cannot be saved, and it is not worth saving. But so many human cultures that have been pushed to the margins, existing on the violent frontiers of states or repressed within the territory occupied by states, organize on a radically different basis. Across continents and centuries, these cultures demonstrate the ability to exist as part of an ecosystem. They retain or innovate knowledge for ecocentric coexistence on the basis of mutual aid; they present models of resilience; they hone methods for collective survival; they are our best hope for the future.