Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy

By: David Fleming, Shaun Chamberlin, Rob Hopkins

Narrated by: Shaun Chamberlin, Rob Hopkins

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Surviving the Future is a story drawn from the fertile ground of the late David Fleming's extraordinary Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It. That hardback consists of 404 interlinked dictionary entries, inviting listeners to choose their own path through its radical vision.

Recognizing that Lean Logic's sheer size and unusual structure can be daunting, Fleming's long-time collaborator Shaun Chamberlin has selected and edited one of these potential narratives to create Surviving the Future. The content, rare insights, and uniquely enjoyably writing style remain Fleming's but are presented here at a more accessible length and in conventional format.

Surviving the Future lays out a compelling and powerfully different new economics for a post-growth world. One that relies not on taut competitiveness and eternally increasing productivity - "putting the grim into reality" - but on the play, humor, conversation, and reciprocal obligations of a rich culture.

Dr. David Fleming (1940 - 2010) was a visionary thinker and writer who played significant roles in the genesis of the UK Green Party, the Transition Towns movement, and the New Economics Foundation, as well as chairing the Soil Association. He was also one of the early whistle-blowers on oil depletion and designer of the influential TEQs carbon/energy rationing system.

©2016 The Estate of David Fleming (P)2018 Chelsea Green Publishing

Essential reading

This book is fantastic. David Fleming is a visionary who writes with a brilliant send ease that makes for highly engaging and thought-provoking reading. If you are at all interested in the matter of transition, this is a central reading. Then again, we should all be interested in the matter of transition and read this book.

Two books in one: post-growth and human behavior

"Surviving the Future" is two different books in one: one about the post-growth economy, the other about human behavior.
The first is a mental exercise about what would be required to survive if our complex and global economy collapsed (or when it happens, since the author takes it as a given). It is a well-researched book, quoting past examples of similar situations and what a local community/economy looks like. The key word here is "past". Even though he mentions it, the author does not provide enough emphasis on new technologies of the future, that most likely, will solve today's problems. Sometimes it reads like an apocalyptic tale with no other possibilities than a climatic disintegration. 3.5/5
On the other hand, there are chapters than only discuss human behavior and our interactions with others. These are extremely insightful and worth reading just to hear possible comprehension of our own psyche. 5/5