Prepared for the future – discourses on prepping

Social media is an important arena for discussions of political, cultural, and societal issues, and creates spaces where people can come together and form networks centered around different topics, interests, and events. In today’s online environment, thousands of Norwegians gather on Facebook to discuss future potential crisis situations, unexpected events, and alternative ways to structure their everyday lives.

As part of the MUCS project (funded by the Research Council of Norway), the objective of this research is to increase our understanding of those who prepare to live in a society different from what we know today, a society impacted by profound climate change and future societal crisis. What motivates those who gather around the thought of a societal collapse, and how are these notions mediated? I explore these questions through an ethnographic deep dive into Facebook communities focused on self-sufficiency, “prepping” and other material and mental ways to adapt towards a (climate) crisis. With this project, I seek to gather insight into everyday practices and strategies, and the way people negotiate issues related to the urgent events in our lifetime.