Usbek & Rica puts on quite a show

Morning République, Paris, 17 October 2018.

Nearly a month after the return from the summer break, the team at Usbek & Rica is releasing its issue 24, devoted to collapsology. To celebrate the occasion, the team behind the magazine that explores the future has decided to gather its readers in the great hall of Morning, République.
More than a hundred people came together that evening to hear the team share its investigative work, in a series of fascinating and impassioned talks.
Photo credit – ©Usbek & Rica.

Everything's going to collapse, so what?

On the agenda of this issue 24? An investigation into collapsology. The Franglais term refers to the study of the collapse of industrial civilisation and of what might follow it. Quite a programme, set in motion by Pablo Servigne and Raphaël Stevens – authors of the essay Comment tout peut s'effondrer : Petit manuel de collapsologie à l'usage des générations présentes, published in 2015. It is a cross-disciplinary notion that touches on ecology, economics, biophysics, biogeography, sociology, agriculture, politics, health, law and more.

"Is capitalism ready to die for a good cause?"

Among those present were the journalists Thierry Keller, Guillaume Ledit and Blaise Mao, along with Mathieu Brand, whose job was to host all the presentations. The Usbek team chose to approach collapsology through those who practise it: the collapsologists. Settled into the large hall of Morning Coworking République, the readers were given an exclusive first look at the magazine's main themes.

Worth noting was the sincere, impassioned talk by Thierry Keller, who penned the editorial for this new issue, titled: "Is capitalism ready to die for a good cause?". The audience was won over. The discussions carried on into the evening over drinks laid on by the team.