Premise

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Certain observations – that climate disruption is occurring and will only intensify; that energy and material production will peak and then decline; and that technological innovation will help ease the transition but will not fundamentally change it – are what initially motivated us to teach the seminar from which this book emerged. They form the premise of this book. In designing the seminar we deliberately avoided dwelling on these facts – they are well discussed by others. Rather, we  focused on the response. So, at this point it will be useful to state, plainly  and briefly, the premise of this book.

1. Modern industrial society is facing a new biophysical reality, one that involves an inevitable decrease and, eventually, leveling of material and energy availability at the same time that the consequences of past consumption must be addressed. This reality will negatively affect essential services and social institutions (e.g., food systems, health provision, mobility, banking).

2. These circumstances and ensuing effects are, like gravity, not negotiable. They are not altered by political debate or market forces, nor will denial or inattention make them disappear.

3. Conventional policy tools (e.g., pricing and markets, technology, social innovation)  will not be up to the task.

4. The speed and suddenness of change means the operative term is response. It is avoiding being taken by surprise. To plan a reasonable response, this book assumes plausible future scenarios. What is not inevitable, however, is the nature of our response.

These, then are the four key parts of the premise of the book. They can also be framed
as a prospect:

1. Without a plan or a process, society risks a rapid, chaotic descent into a  hyper-local existence, what we characterize as negative localization.

2. Positive localization, in contrast, is a process for creating and implementing a response, a means of adapting institutions and behaviors to living within the  limits of natural systems. While place-based, localization includes institutions  at the regional, national and international levels.

3. Localization is not an outcome or end-state to pursue. Rather it is a way of organizing and focusing a process of transition. It is, arguably, a process already under way, but one that should be accelerated while options still exist.