As the climate crisis accelerates, it’s hard not to wonder if today’s societies can adapt. Growing worries over climate change have sparked interest in the collapse of ancient civilizations and the rise of the (often apocalypse-themed) “cli-fi” genre in popular culture. But before turning to the past for answers, it is important to think about what collapse is and why it matters.
Researchers often define collapse as a social simplification in which hierarchies are flattened or governance systems break up. But with this definition it’s not clear what is inherently “bad” about collapse. After all, the disintegration of colonial empires in the mid-20th century was a collapse by this definition — and a development which most would celebrate.
So why is collapse often seen as something to be prevented? Our research suggests an alternative understanding of societal collapse that answers this question. We propose that societal collapse is not a flattening of hierarchy but a loss of collective capacity to meet basic needs of the population.
