Collapse

Everyone knows what collapse means until you try to use it in a policy document. Has real analytic value: it names the non-linear, threshold-crossing dynamics that 'decline' or 'challenge' fail to capture. But it carries implicit universalism. Societies that have already experienced what others now fear might reasonably ask: collapse for whom? Systems do not just 'collapse'; they are often undermined, defunded, or deliberately dismantled by identifiable actors.

In activist and degrowth circles, 'collapse' can function as a mobilising frame: naming the worst case to justify radical action. In institutional contexts, it is often softened to 'systemic risk' or 'cascading failure.' Collapsology treats it as a field of study; critics argue this risks fatalism -- if collapse is inevitable, why organise?

Falling apart, Breaking down