Rapid environmental degradation poses a growing threat to human societies and perhaps even the survival of the human species. The large-scale unravelling of ecosystems, from the local to the global level, not only spells the demise of numerous species but also severely erodes the biophysical conditions on which human life and well-being depend. The world is moving from the geological era referred to as the Holocene, which began some 11,700 years ago and created conditions conducive to human flourishing, into an epoch now commonly labelled the Anthropocene. This marks a stage where the impact of human activities is altering the Earth’s biophysical systems and processes to the extent that these relatively stable conditions are coming to an end and great uncertainty arises about where and what this is leading to. This does not necessarily imply that human extinction is imminent, as some people argue. But it seems highly likely that if humankind does not put an end to its environmentally damaging practices very soon it faces a bleak future.
Yet, ongoing environmental degradation in the past 50 years indicates that this is a tough challenge. Although, from around 1970, environmental concerns got onto the public and political agendas in many countries as well as globally, the efforts of almost all countries and governments have fallen short and failed to stem the ongoing and even growing flow of environmental pressures and problems. It may go too far to say that doing so is impossible, but even a cursory survey of the efforts on this front suggests that there are formidable political, economic, social, technological, and practical obstacles to tackling the sources or causes of environmental problems. Predominantly, environmental problems are still (if at all) addressed reactively (after they have become blatantly obvious and serious), on a one-by-one (fragmented) basis, and by technological or managerial means that enable societies to carry on “business-as-usual”. For some reason(s), despite growing environmental concerns, governments and societies seem to be unable and perhaps unwilling to address this challenge collectively and effectively.
This failure does not stand on its own. From its beginning, the human species has been confronted with a range of intractable issues that have deeply affected the functioning or non-functioning of societies and the well- or ill-being of their members. Humanity’s failure to deal more effectively with the environmental challenge is not an isolated case but is linked to several other conundrums confronting human societies. Yet, societies have dealt with these ongoing issues in different ways and more or less satisfactorily over time. In this context, “more or less satisfactorily” can mean a lot making the difference between large-scale suffering and a relatively satisfying way of life for many people. However, these enduring challenges put an ongoing strain on societies and at times, in combination, they can become overwhelming and lead to collapse.
Identifying these deeper issues is, of course, no straightforward matter. Potentially, as everything is connected to everything else, singling out a few things as more fundamental than others can be regarded as arbitrary. The claim that some problems have always been inherent to humanity cannot be backed up by scientific evidence. Moreover, identifying a few issues as inherent to the human condition could be interpreted as a form of reductionist determinism, an attempt to attribute everything that happens (and has happened and will happen) to a handful of causes beyond human control.
Nonetheless, it is important not to be deterred by these potential pitfalls if we want to believe that, through collective agency, human societies can, at least to some extent, influence their state of affairs, avoid or mitigate widespread suffering, and prevent collapse. Therefore, I proceed by identifying six themes that appear to surface time and again, posing intractable and enduring challenges to societies. These have been selected by taking a wide-angle (transdisciplinary) lens to the course of human history.
The ongoing issues or themes that I have identified and will discuss on these pages are:
1. What does it mean to be human?
2. Social integration and fragmentation
4. Different ways of seeing the world
5. The environmental challenge
6. Bully states and global anarchy
A Big Picture: six themes in a nutshell offers a synopsis of these themes.
It may be obvious that these six themes are interrelated, and that by necessity, there will be overlap in their discussion. Only by looking at the interactions can we acquire a better understanding of what is going on in the world and build a fuller picture. But I do not claim that the picture I paint in these pages explains the state of the world, or any particular society, at any time. The dynamics created by human agency and the interactions between people, systems, and environments, imply that how these themes play out, and what approach a society takes to these ongoing challenges, cannot be explained by the themes themselves. At most, they provide a framework that can assist our efforts to understand what is going on in the world.
As these challenges cannot be resolved once and for all, and are intrinsic to the human condition, there has never been, and will never be, a perfect society and a perfect world. There have been relatively good times and bad in the history of societies and the world. However, the rapidly worsening environmental conditions around the world suggest that dealing more effectively with these deep and interconnected issues is becoming imperative to the future of humanity. Environmental degradation, let alone collapse, creates additional pressure on the social integration challenge, and is linked with power and inequality, political and economic systems, and people’s thinking and worldviews, while global anarchy and the rivalry between bully states prevent effectively addressing environmental, social, political and economic issues at the global level. More than ever societies, and humanity as a whole, are on trial. They either find a way to deal with these intractable and interrelated issues much better than they have done thus far, or they will be condemned by nature.
Each of the six themes is elaborated upon in a separate essay. These essays are personal reflections rather than scholarly articles. This does not mean that facts and information are not important in my accounts; on the topic pages, I use references and provide links with relevant information sources and literature. For those who are interested, I also provide a list of my papers and publications, most of which can be downloaded.
The Snippets are brief commentaries on events linked to and illustrating a theme or topic. As such, they do not aim to offer extensive discussions, but to provide further support for the arguments put forward on other pages or to draw attention to developments that do not (seem to) fit in. In the case of the latter, this may lead me to review my arguments.
Reflections (in the top menu) are essay-type think-pieces on developments or ideas related to one or more themes that may have implications for the arguments put forward on the main pages. They address issues or topics that have not been dealt with (adequately) under the Themes and Topics, and will eventually be included under that heading.
Finally, to demonstrate that, despite all the doom and gloom, I have not abandoned the idea that it is possible to create better societies and a better world, I will explore and advocate ideas about what “we” can and/or should do to make that happen. I begin this exploration on the What is to be done? page in the top menu.
Humanity on Trial 