Are our 'social contracts' falling apart and what does that mean for society?

The concept of social contracts in modern culture came through the work and philosophies of folks such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau as a way of communities agreeing to behave and trust in collective ideals. Whilst intentions may be valid, the structures of this imposed model of organising communities falls down when trust is broken - and we're finding ourselves in that state of collapse in many countries and societies around the world. Which has the potential to open up different ways of belonging and living alongside one another - ways that come not from an imposed and centralised narrative, but that actually work within the contexts and communities we live in.

In this week's episode we talk about the impact of the social contract falling away, and the reneging of social promise in many parts of our societies. We discuss where trust comes into the equation and explore models across our human story that shine a light on more robust and localised ways of building resilient and healthy communities.

During the conversation we reference the following:

• The Social Contract - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (PDF)
• Local Futures (website and movement)
• The real Lord of the Flies - Rucker Bregnan (article)
• Beyond Civilisation - Daniel Quinn (PDF)
• Transforming Leadership - online short course (website)

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