The End of the Megamachine

A Brief History of a Failing Civilization

Spanning 5000 years of history, The End of the Megamachine provides a uniquely comprehensive picture of the roots of the destructive forces that are threatening the future of humankind today. With an afterword about pandemics, the destruction of the biosphere and the limits to economic expansion.

Publication date: September 25, 2020
Zero Books, Winshester, UK/Washington, USA
ISBN 978-1-78904-271-9, UK £19,99, US $29,95

The original German version was published in 2015 by Promedia Publishers in Vienna.
Dutch edition: Lemniscaat, Rotterdam 2017
French edition: Éditions du Seuil, Paris 2020 (paperback published by Éditions Points in 2023)
Turkish edition: Aram Yayınevi, Yenişehir/ Diyarbakır 2023
Italian edition: Castelvecchi Editore, Roma 2024
Spanish edition (Icaria Editorial, Barcelona / Abya Yala Editorial, Quito 2024)

Chinese and Kurdish versions are in preparation.

„The topic could not be more important. A very valuable and surely timely contribution.“
Noam Chomsky

“A must read for everyone rising against the system that is destroying life on earth and our future.”
Vandana Shiva

„A fascinating new take on the parts of human history that got us where we are today“
Bill McKibben

„This book, a sensation in Germany when it was first published, challenges us to seek a new path for our and the planet’s survival.“
Maude Barlow

“This well-documented analysis dismantles the myths and narratives that have glorified and naturalized relations of domination.”
Le Monde diplomatique

The Stuff We Are Made of

Rethinking Nature and Society

The ecological crisis and climate chaos threaten the future of humanity. One of the reasons for this is a technocratic worldview that reduces nature to a disposable resource in the hands of man. In a fascinating journey through the history of science, Fabian Scheidler shows that this conception of nature is a fatal error. With a surprising new look at life, science and ourselves, this book opens up perspectives for profound social change. (In German language.)

“This book is a masterstroke.”
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, co-chair of the Club of Rome (2012-2018)

Piper Verlag, München
Publication date: March 1, 2021
304 pages
EAN 978-3-492-07060-7
 

The Struggle for Global Justice

Conversations with Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Immanuel Wallerstein, Amy Goodman, George Monbiot, Yanis Varoufakis, Maude Barlow, Jeremy Scahill, Wangui Mbatia, Michael Albert, Pat Mooney, Alyn Ware, Srećko Horvat, Alberto Acosta, Kevin Anderson et al.

For the 10th anniversary of Kontext TV, the editors David Goeßmann and Fabian Scheidler have collected key interviews on the ecological crisis, war and peace, social justice and migration. (In German language.)

 
David Goeßmann / Fabian Scheidler (ed.):
Der Kampf um globale Gerechtigkeit
 
Promedia Verlag, Vienna 2019
240 pages
 

Print: € 19,90. ISBN: 978-3-85371-458-4.
E-Book: € 15,99. ISBN: 978-3-85371-874-2.

 

The Mental Field

Theatre Essentials

What is the essence of theater? How is it unique? Do we need it, and if so, why? What role can it play in the face of planetary crises? Fabian Scheidler opposes a dereal cyberworld with a theater centered on the body, a theater that draws its poetic-utopian strength from a field of attention that connects spectators and actors. The essay draws a broad arc from non-European, particularly Asian, theatrical forms to classical modernism up to the present day and encourages reflection for a necessary renewal of the theater. )In German Language.)

“Fabian Scheidler takes us on a journey through our own past, without the reflection of which we would hardly have any possibility of the future, of perspective; it reminds us of our future.”–Roberto Ciulli, founder of the Theater an der Ruhr

Fabian Scheidler
The Mental Field
Theater Essentials
Essay
With a preface by Roberto Ciulli

Alexander Verlag, Berlin
112 pages
ISBN 978-3-89581-570-6

Résumé français/French synopsis

 

Chaos

The New Age of Revolutions

As the old order becomes fragile around the world, a struggle arises over who will determine the future and what it will look like. Will authoritarian forces prevail or can social and ecological movements use the systemic rifts to build a more just and peaceful world? Where do new social and economic structures emerge that could overcome the current system of “global apartheid”?Chaos” explores the dangers and opportunities of this transition period and offers a compass for political engagement in times of growing confusion. The book has three parts: I. Chaos and Deathly Orders; II.  Reorganizing Societies and Economies; III. China’s Comeback and the prospects for a New Peace Order.(In German language.)

Published in 2017 by Promedia Publishers, Vienna.

A book that is impressive in its synthetic and conceptual power. It belongs in the hands of all critics of the current economy.
The German weekly “Der Freitag”

 “In addition to the intellectual sovereignty, there is an unmistakable visual power of this author, with which he gently, but effectively shifts and liberates the reader’s gaze. You couldn’t stop reading.“
Birgit Vanderbeke, author of “The Mussel Feast” and awardee of the Ingeborg Bachmann Award

Number 11 on the economy bestseller list of the German weekly “Der Spiegel” in 2017/18.

The Plenty and the Empty

Essays and Images

What has Isaac Newton got to do with the last aboriginal people of Borneo? What distinguishes a living culture from a collection of cultural goods? When and why do people unlearn what they were still capable of as children? The essays in this volume explore the abysses of a civilization that today threatens the future of life on Earth. Accompanied by 14 photosyntheses by the author, they tell stories of uprooting and resistance, of technocratic hubris and economic totalitarianism, of the search for real freedom and solidarity. (In German language.)

“The book, which is touching in its melancholic beauty, focuses on the meaningless empty space left by the industrial megamachine. In the end, however, it  raises hope again.”
Ute Scheub in the journal Oya

Fabian Scheidler:
Die volle und die leere Welt
Essays und Bilder
Mit den Aufzeichnungen eines Verschollenen

Edition thinkOya, Klein-Jasedow 2019
144 pages
22,80 €

ISBN: 978-3-947296-06-4

Information sheet as PDF (in German).

Table of contents as PDF.

Theater in Bewegung

Globale Gerechtigkeit spielend voranbringen

Das Handbuch Theater in Bewegung zeigt anhand von Beispielen aus der Praxis des GRIPS Theaters und anderer Projekte, wie politische Bewegung im Theater wirken kann und wie Theater auf politische Bewegungen ausstrahlt.

Sowohl Akteure aus dem sozial-politischen Bereich und NGOs, die Anregungen für theatrale Interventionen im öffentlichen Raum suchen, als auch Theaterschaffende, die Möglichkeiten der Zusammenarbeit mit sozialen Bewegungen ausloten wollen, können aus den beschriebenen Projekten und Produktionen Inspiration und Ideen beziehen.

Fabian Scheidler, Stefanie Kaluza, Marc Amann:
Theater in Bewegung
Globale Gerechtigkeit spielend voranbringen

Mit Vorworten von Volker Ludwig und Verena Metze-Mangold (Vize-Präsidentin der Deutschen UNESCO-Kommission). Weitere Beiträge von Jörg Isermeyer, Ruth Heynen und Inge Kleutgens.

Herausgegeben von GRIPS Werke e.V in Kooperation mit dem GRIPS Theater.

108 Seiten, € 7,50

ISBN 978-3-00-032631-8

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