Preface
Prologue: The Attention-Shift From Climate To Corona - And Back Again?
Introduction: On Climate, Ecological And Societal Breakdown
Chapter 1: Just How Much Do You Care About The Future Of Humanity?
Chapter 2: Is Climate Breakdown A White Swan?
Chapter 3: Is This Civilisation Finished?
Chapter 4: The Great Gift Of Community That (Climate) Disasters Can Give Us
Chapter 5: How Climate Grief May Yet Be The Making Of Us
Chapter 6: Can We Understand Cetacean Society? Can We Change Ourselves?
Chapter 7: How Today To Live In Truth
Epilogue: The Lessons From Corona For Climate

Bibliography

Rupert Read is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, UK. He is a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion collective, an environmental activist and a former Green Party councillor. His most recent books include Extinction Rebellion: Insights from the Inside (with Samuel Alexander) (2020), This Civilisation is Finished: Conversations on the end of Empire - and what lies beyond (2019) and A film-philosophy of ecology and enlightenment (2018).

Climate change and the destruction of the earth is the most urgent issue of our time. We are hurtling towards the end of civilisation as we know it. With an unflinching honest approach, Rupert Read asks us to face up to the fate of the planet. This is a book for anyone who wants their philosophy to deal with reality and their climate concern to be more than a displacement activity.
As people come together to mourn the loss of the planet, we have the opportunity to create a grounded, hopeful response. This meaningful hopefulness looks to the new communities created around climate activism. Together, our collective mourning enables us to become human in ways previously unknown.
Why Climate Breakdown Matters is a practical guide on how to be a radical, responsible climate activist.