Ecological mountain to climb
WHAT if the combined effects of social, economic and environmental unravelling means the end of the world as we know it? Not the end of the world, but the end of how major aspects of our civilisation function?
What if we won’t, or can’t, solve current crises — what do we do? That’s the thinking behind Dark Mountain, a movement preparing for just such an eventuality. Writers, artists, crafts people, workers and scientists are trying to come up with new ways of responding to what they say is an age of collapse.
Disillusioned with the piecemeal solutions offered by the environmental movement and cynical about economic recovery, Dark Mountain is a movement for uncivilisation, for downsizing, adapting, reducing, rethinking, reskilling and reorganising how we live.
Dougald Hine, who, with Paul Kingsnorth, co-founded the movement, says the name Dark Mountain comes from a line in a poem by Robinson Jeffers.
“He was a mid-20th century American poet who had a remarkable ability to write from a perspective other than that of the human bubble.
“It’s also a suggestive, vague name of connotations rather than definitions. We wanted it to be clear that this wasn’t a political or activist project as such, more the opening of a space, one that allowed for puzzlement.”
The inspiration?
“Quite a few of us were converging on similar frustrations. The narrowing of the environmental movement towards technological fixes was one thing. Another was the way the mainstream of literature and the arts appeared totally incapable of producing work that would not be irrelevant or offensive, given how deep a mess we are in.”
In August, Dark Mountainists gathered for their Uncivilisation event in The Sustainability Centre, Hampshire.
There was a session on ‘collapsonomics’, with four thinkers who have lived through economic and social collapses discussing why society is coming apart, and how to make the best of the uncertainty and disruption that results.
Speakers included a former Irish banker, Arthur Doohan; a Russian criminal justice specialist who worked in prison reform in the post-Soviet collapse; and ‘hactivists’ who engaged in open-source distributional technology in, among other spheres, the Arab spring.
Preparing for a frugal future is a major part of the Dark Mountain ethos. Practical workshops were held on ‘creative poverty,’ foraging and scything; artistic expression included physical theatre, storytelling, poetry, and lo-fi music sessions. In much of the creative expression at Uncivilisation, there appeared to be something of a melancholic undercurrent: one poet, for example, pondered the destructive aspects of humanity and our estrangement from the natural world.
For some people, the Dark Mountain is too stark a place: there are solutions possible which will result in continuation of a fairly similar civilisation. But for others, life is now about planning for a radically different future.
* www.dark-mountain.net
‘AN OPPORTUNITY TO REDESIGN SOCIETY’
Rachel Henderson, 25, lives in Leopardstown, Dublin. She works in hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and in organising events, particularly those involving inspirational speakers.
“I’d watched the film Collapse [Chris Smith-directed 2009 documentary] and it really brought home to me how stark what’s around the corner will be. We’re not being prepared for the impending collapse of society as we know it.
Dark Mountain, for me, is an opportunity to redesign society, going back to a simpler lifestyle and more community-based initiatives.
There was so much interesting stuff there, like the panel on collapsonomics. New ways to cultivate knowledge outside of the university system was fascinating. It focused on bringing back apprenticeships, which would also involve having a life-long mentor to go to when you are stuck. Universities block out a lot of people.
I also learned a lot about hackers, which I never knew before. All we ever hear about them are negatives. So many are actually a force for good, in the work they do and the websites they choose to shut down.
I like the idea of uncvilisation: we’re living in a time of transition, the stories we were told are crumbing — we need new ones. Its about embracing the future rather than fearing it.
Most people, when they hear about banking collapse, are overwhelmed. But it might be an opportunity for new modes of living.
‘I MAKE TOOLS FOR CHANGE’
Vinay Gupta, 40, lives in Tipperary. He is half-Scottish and half-Indian, and has lived in the US, Iceland, and London. Part engineer, part global thinker, he has designed public domain disaster relief shelters, called hexayurts.
He has worked with the International Red Cross and on a US National Defense disaster management programme and is Associate fellow at University College London.
“I spent 12 years in the US. While there, around 1995, Albert Bates of The Farm [one of the original ecovillages] asked me to make a less wasteful geodesic dome. I came up with the hexayurt. It’s very simple to design and far cheaper than a tent. I realised ‘this is big’ and felt a responsibility to make it available in disaster relief situations. It’s made from 4x8 sheets, using contiguous triangles to maximise the load-bearing ability of simple structures. It is designed to be made from commonly available materials, costs as little as €250-300 to build, and lasts three years.
“I’ve made it open source, so its freely available for all to use ... People have developed very innovative designs and advancements on it since them, which is the beauty of open source. I try to build tools for change, inspired by both Buckminster Fuller [inventor] and Ghandi.”
* See: vinay.howtolivewiki.com
‘WE MUST LET NATURE PROVIDE FOR US’
Seosamh Ó Duinn, 66, lives in Hollywood, Wicklow. He is an environmental trainer and a founder member of the Dublin Food Co-op.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns over the years. I’m a founder member of the home education network and the ecology party, which became the Green Alliance.
“ The group that became the Green Party split from us. After the anti-nuclear protests at Carnsore Point, a group of us set up the Dublin Food Co-op. Now I do an environmental/ecological radio show on Near FM, and am a member of the Forest Friends.
“Why Dark Mountain? It’s a biosphere. People have their own visions, now we’re sharing our vision, and writing it. We made a decision at Dark Mountain that we’re not a campaigning group, we don’t have time for that.
“We need to present what is possible and help people adopt it and follow. When all the institutions fall, which they are, the Church, banks and so on, we have to have a path ready: to live within nature, let her provide for us ... But with collapse coming, there is also an urgent need to look at growing food using permaculture. Not your normal foodcrops: dandelions, burdock, nettles and the like are very nutritious and grow really well, given the right conditions ... Our food is getting depleted, we use too small a number of plants for nutrition — wild plants have more trace elements.”
