NEW WEBSITE:  LOCALIZATIONPAPERS.ORG

De Young, R. & T. Princen (2012)  The Localization Reader: Adapting to the Coming Downshift. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

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Localization Papers

The Localization Papers

NEW WEBSITE:  LOCALIZATIONPAPERS.ORG

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness(Thomas Jefferson, July 12, 1788)

The University of Michigan's 10th president, in his inaugural address, said that the university has a responsibility for training and research that serve current economic and cultural needs. That was predictable and uninspiring. But what he said next was fascinating, the university also, "has a fundamental responsibility to be critical of society's current arrangements and to entertain, construct and test alternative visions." Now that was a radical and exhilarating remark.

The localization papers outline an alternative vision to society's current arrangement. They entertain the scenario of an 80% or greater drop in energy and material availability this century. This would be an historic change and it is sensible to debate the timing of this downshift. But it is also prudent to explore the implications of such a descent and then craft and test our response.

One implication is that after such a downshift, the form societies take will differ substantially from conventional expectations. There will be reduced material and energy consumption, highly localized forms of social organization, limited mobility and a decentralized settlement pattern. Life will be less affluent and more agrarian, yet there may be improved psychological well-being.

I accept that this downshift is inevitable, although I am uncertain as to its timing. Clearly, we should start the transition while there are still surpluses of material, energy and social capital. My work is about helping citizens to form an affirmative response, one that plans for, motivates and maintains meaningful behavior change, starting with each of us, where we are, now.

The localization papers seek to provide a context and framework for a reasonable response. They focus on the nature of, and the transition to, a psychologically wholesome and durable existence.

Raymond De Young
Associate Professor of Environmental Psychology and Planning
School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE)    
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1041

Premise

NEW WEBSITE:  LOCALIZATIONPAPERS.ORG

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.