Community development in a fractured future

Abstract

This article explores the implications for community development in a near-term future context of some degree of ecological and societal collapse. The extreme likelihood of near-term future collapse is well known to most climate and environmental scientists but generally not acknowledged by mainstream academic literature and mainstream media. Community development has an important role in preparing communities for a difficult future and will be vital in supporting community solidarity amid fracturing state capacity for social-care provision. The challenge of a future self-protective neoliberally informed global hegemony becoming more punitive is also explored.