Its too late for green: pedagogy for collapse?

our current industrial civilisation is unsustainable

proven and workable solutions have been found for environmental problems that are limited in scale, highly visible and acute, for example, industrial pollution... GEO4

climate change is having severe effects...extreme weather conditions impacting vulnerable populations...indoor and outdoor pollution causing premature deaths...drastic reductions of fish stocks...accelerating species extinction rates... Ecosystem services collapse is a distinct possibility. (GEO4)

A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity [reducing] the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India. (Joint Operating Environment...US Joint Forces Command 2010)

humanity has the ability to make development sustainable (Brundtland Commission 1987)

Global Change and the Earth System (Steffen et al.) IGBP

Economic and political discourse : Brussels has slashed its forecasts for Britain's growth prospects, leaving its predictions "more pessimistic"...This means a weaker outlook for consumption than hoped, which will hit the economy's headline growth figures...Germany grew at an impressive 1.5pc quarter-on-quarter...[the] the UK's 0.5pc expansion [looks] paltry...the UK was stuck in Europe's economic "slow lane"...."Countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands and even Spain have overtaken us while Germany is powering ahead," said Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor....(14 May 2011)

Well-being can't be measured by money or traded in markets. It's about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and, above all, the strength of our relationships (David Cameron 2007)

"nothing is possible without economic growth. It's the most important thing that we have to secure...[the Budget is] "the most pro-growth for a generation". (Cameron Mar 2011) My main concern day to day is how do we make sure the American economy is growing," (Obama May 2011)

Our long term economic growth relies on protecting and enhancing the environmental resources that underpin it... Government will seek to maximise economic growth, whilst decoupling it from impacts on the environment. (Mainstreaming Sustainable Development Feb 2011 UK Govt)

(light) green discourse calls for surface changes that leave underlying economic, social, cultural, political, ethical, educational systems unexamined and unchanged

we're not asking you to walk around in brown sacks, heavens no. Our duty is to offer a little encouragement to giving something back by making smart choices; with new companies surfacing everyday, it means that whatever you enjoy, be it bangers and mash or travelling to luxury holiday resorts, they can still be part of your life...Quite frankly, there's nothing like driving a supercar that does 0-60mph in under 2.5 seconds that also has an EcoBoost twin-turbo 3.5 litre V- 6. Enough said. (Recognise Magazine)

minute changes and more stuff...

unsustainable society voluntarily change to become a different kind of society (a sustainable one) involuntary change to become a different kind of society (collapse) continuing on indefinitely (impossible)

sustainability literacy: reading and writing society

reading: analysing the discourses that underlie an unsustainable society

writing: creatively rethinking and rewriting society along different lines using alternative discourses

productionconsumptionutility efficiency efficiency The essential fact about production is so obvious that it hardly needs stating: it involves the use of services of various sorts to generate output. (economics textbook) Economic discourses

grumpy bull farmer with shotgun barbed wire Enjoy the freshness of the outdoors in the safety of your own home. Advertising

the discourse of lifestyle magazines

the discourse of animal industries death losses euthanasia boar power sow durability sow breakdown processed pigs volume of pigs meat-type animal pig performance cull sow (Pork Industry Handbook) an efficient flow of feed, hogs and waste (Pork Industry Handbook).

…the structural elements of an ecosystem are stocks of biotic and abiotic resources (minerals, water, trees, other plants and animals), which when combined together generate ecosystem…services (ecology textbook) the discourse of ecology

the discourse of new economics

the discourse of haiku

over optimistic...

unsustainable society voluntarily change to become a different kind of society (a sustainable one) involuntary change to become a different kind of society (collapse) continuing on indefinitely (impossible)

dark mountain

We believe that the roots of [social and ecological] crises lie in the stories we have been telling ourselves. We intend to challenge the stories which underpin our civilisation: the myth of progress, the myth of human centrality, and the myth of our separation from nature. These myths are more dangerous for the fact that we have forgotten they are myths. dark mountain

We will reassert the role of story-telling as more than mere entertainment. It is through stories that we weave reality...We will celebrate writing and art which is grounded in a sense of place and of time. (Dark Mountain, 2010) dark mountain

pedagogy for collapse or pedagogy for what comes next