Civic Revolution: 2 Opportunity

Social tipping points to create a better future

Civic Revolution is a mini audiobook series on planetary boundaries, social tipping points and civic power. It is adapted from the original book, Civic Revolution.

In episode two, Civic Revolution: Opportunity, we sift for clues in our past that shape the future. Throughout our history, we have been converting energy from one form to another and changing the world around us in remarkable new ways. We have lived by the stories we are told, and reshape the world by the new stories we tell. Taken together, we see how these clues point towards a social tipping point where we have the opportunity to create something better and mend the links between people and place that have been broken. Adapted from the original book, Civic Revolution, and narrated by its author. 

Excerpt from this episode

“All around us, shifts are taking place that indicate the way we live currently is already turning into history. There are many exciting new technologies that will catalyse this change, but the story of our time is not one of technology disruption but of behaviour disruption. The next revolution will be neither agricultural nor industrial, but civic. In other words, one that is placed-based where we, and those around us, are the ones who make things happen.

In truth, we never lost our connection to place. A great many of us just forgot about this connection for a while. Our individual civic powers have atrophied to such an extent that we can hardly recall that we have this power. And yet, civic power boils down to the simple question of who decides. No one knows the place where you live better than you, so why should you let someone else make these decisions?

The clues from our past, going back centuries, point towards an opportunity for people to play a bigger civic role in making the world around them better. Too many of us think that we don’t have the option of changing direction or shaping the future. But the reality is that we do have this power, at any point in time, where we live – we just have to use it. And in the last episode, we will explore how.”