By Disaster or by Co-Design?: From the Polycrisis to Systemic Sustainability: Transformation as Social and Cultural Challenge

Brocchi, Davide

Every major transformation in human history has been triggered and accompanied by a cultural revolution. This publication demonstrates why this also applies to the transformation towards sustainability. The focus lies not only on values and perceptions of humanity and nature, but also on the social responsibility of education, science, art, and the media. For the second edition, the content has been revised and updated, the theses sharpened, and new studies included.
We are currently caught between two major societal transformations. The first is the capitalist-industrial transformation, which began five centuries ago, still dominates today, and is guided by the cultural program of modernization. It has led society into a polycrisis that threatens the collapse of civilization.
The second transformation is the shift towards sustainability, which is guided by “visions of a different development” — beyond growth and mass consumption. These two transformations sometimes displace one another and sometimes intermingle. Often, the weaker transformation is assimilated. For instance, concepts such as “ecological modernization” and “sustainable growth” are currently being theorized, even though such approaches are inherently contradictory.
At the same time, the social and ecological environment is becoming an increasingly prominent political subject, actively shaping public discourse and dynamics.
Ultimately, the friction between these two transformations will determine how the shift towards sustainability unfolds — whether by disaster or by design.

Details

Published by: Springer VS

Publication Date: 2026-05-10

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783658503192

DOI:

Dimensions: 210.0cm x148.0cm

Pages: None