Embracing Hope in a Time of Collapse: Reflections from the P4NE Gathering

This year, I attended my third P4NE annual gathering in Lyon, France, on October 1st and 2nd. Over 250 passionate individuals gathered under the theme "Hope in a Time of Collapse." The energy was palpable, a vibrant tapestry of possibility woven from shared dreams for a better future.

As I immersed myself in the conversations, keynote addresses, and corridor dialogues, two vital truths emerged with clarity: (1) the new economy field cannot remain apolitical, for building new economies is inherently a deeply political act, and (2) the outdated mindsets and narratives of separation and extraction governing our current economic system are actively impeding our ability to survive the ongoing polycrisis.

Hope as a Political Act: Beyond Wishful Thinking

Joycelyn giving her opening keynote speech.

Joycelyn Longdon delivered an incredible opening keynote, reframing hope not as passive optimism but as an active discipline. She described hope as a function of courage rather than privilege. Longdon reminded us that collapse is not a distant future event; it is a present reality for many. "The slave trade was an apocalypse on its own," she stated, emphasizing that "Black and brown bodies have been living in the end times for a long time."

In this context, hope becomes a lifeline for marginalized communities. It is what poor brown and black people have historically needed to harness for survival—fighting in the face of loss, resisting the desecration of ancestors, and tending to land and community despite the weight of systemic racial capitalist oppression. Longdon, an environmental justice technologist, grounds her work in this understanding, collaborating with local forest communities in Ghana to develop justice-led conservation technologies. Her message resonates with the growing recognition that true transformation requires democratizing ownership and building ecologically sustainable economic alternatives that benefit the 99%.

Confronting Narratives of Separation and the Politics of Class

Throughout the gathering, speakers repeatedly identified the deep-seated mental models of separation—from each other and from nature—as fundamental barriers to economic transformation. As Jo Swinson noted, "We have internalized the separation from each other and from nature—we are not apart, but part of nature. We need to embrace the connections."

This mindset of separation is precisely the focus of my work with Learning 2 Unlearn. The stories we tell ourselves are powerful; they shape our future. During a workshop session I facilitated on a boat, we delved into the idea of unlearning narratives around wealth and resources. Here are some prompt questions from my session for you to reflect on:

• What does "wealth" mean in the economy you are trying to build, and how does it clash with the dominant narrative you are navigating today?

• What becomes possible for your work when you measure success by the quality of connections you make with people?

• Where does your inner narrative about "enoughness" need rewiring?

  
  

My boat workshop titled 'Finding Fellow Travellers: Rewiring Narratives on the River'

Undoing racial capitalism and building regenerative future economies requires us to reconnect with the planet and each other. Recognizing our humanity as an integral part of an interconnected web of life is fundamental to imagining a future without neoliberal capitalism.

This internal unlearning is a prerequisite for tackling one of the most provocative themes at this year's gathering: the politics of class. This often-taboo topic is one that new economy spaces frequently shy away from. The exclusions stemming from class continue to plague our movement-building efforts. Conversations highlighted how class society is upheld by the unequal distribution of economic, cultural, and social resources. The "working class" should be in the rooms where new economies are being imagined because "no one knows the needs of communities better than communities themselves." Investing in political education and skills training that empowers working-class people to enact change is part of the core work of new economies.

Olivier de Schutter giving his keynote presentation

Olivier de Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, delivered a phenomenal keynote on "Eradicating Poverty: Reimagining Development Beyond Growth." My main takeaway was that economic growth can no longer be the goal; it doesn't resolve the social ills we have long believed the economy would fix. He articulated four powerful challenges for us to consider:

1. The micro-economic challenge: Addressing private enterprise, possibly resolved by promoting workplace democracy and the social/solidarity economy.

2. The macro-economic challenge: Tackling debt servicing and financing public services, possibly resolved by wealth taxation and innovative tools like Modern Monetary Theory.

3. The North-South challenge: Breaking free from an extractive and exploitative economy, possibly resolved by debt forgiveness and a new international division of labour.

4. The challenge of the imagination: Answered by the question, "What makes us happy?"

   
   

These challenges underscore that our work must span from inner narratives to the global economic architecture.

Global inequalities and resource extraction form the urgent context for this work. Julia Steinberger noted something powerful that will stay with me: "Africa will just become the workforce of the world if we are not careful to avoid repeating colonial patterns of economic extraction." The rest of the world is aging while Africa will have most of the world's young people by 2050. This is an urgent but often invisible context for those of us wanting to build different economic systems.

Me in Aunty Ashanti mode during the conference.

Building Spiritual and Imaginative Infrastructure

Tariq Al-Olaimy brought a crucial dimension to the conversations in Lyon: the role of faith and spirit in economic transformation. He observed that "the left has forgotten spirit," while figures like Peter Thiel embark on speaking tours on "the anti-christ." This neglect of the sacred has left the new economy movement without the ethical, moral, and spiritual guidance needed to counter the siren song of consumerism.

We must reconnect economic thinking with spiritual wisdom. This resonates with the growing recognition within regenerative economics that we must shift "from optimization to balance." The pandemic taught us that "efficiency isn't everything," and resilience requires distributed capacity throughout the system.

This spiritual infrastructure must be paired with imaginative infrastructure for the end of capitalism. As the old world dies, we need spaces to imagine and build anew, to bring shame back into discussions that deserve no platform, and to have the uncomfortable conversations that political correctness often shuts down.

The Path Forward: Embracing Hope and Action

Thank you to the P4NE team for once again holding a space where active hope can flourish. I am filled with gratitude and anticipation to witness how this community finds the courage to do the right thing. I cannot wait to see how far the needle has moved when we next meet at next year's annual gathering.

In this journey, we must remember that hope is not merely a feeling; it is a call to action, an invitation to engage with the world around us. Let us embrace this challenge together, weaving our narratives into a tapestry of resilience and transformation.

As we navigate this complex landscape, let us not forget the importance of connection. The phrase "transformative leadership development" is vital in our quest for a just future. Together, we can cultivate leadership that is clear and aligned with our values, ultimately working towards creating a more regenerative and just future.