Michel Serres
Interventions for Our Time of Crisis
INTRODUCTION
Dans les âges précédents, nul savoir n’eut à concevoir ni conduire de projets aussi vitaux : réinventer l’universalité individu, reconfigurer son habitat, tisser de nouvelles relations. D’avoir tout repenser, la philosophie change d’empan et voit croître sa responsabilité. Ou apparaitra un nouvel homme, citoyen du monde, ou l’humanité chancellera. Nous devons décider la paix entre nous pour sauvegarder le monde et la paix avec le monde afin de nous sauver.
In previous ages, no knowledge had ever had to conceive or lead projects that were as vital: reinventing the universality of the individual, reconfiguring his habitat, weaving new relations. From having to rethink everything, philosophy changes span and sees its responsibility to grow. Either a new human, a citizen of the world, will appear, or humanity will totter. We have to bring about peace between ourselves to safeguard the world and peace with the world in order to save ourselves. (Michel Serres, Branches)
The aim of this website is to inspire you to read, think about and discuss Michel Serres’ far-reaching proposals concerning the planetary crisis.
Michel Serres asks us to recognize our common identity in the telling of a common story that reaches the deep origins of our time of crisis, evokes a radical response, and offers a foundation for a new politics of hope.
Over fifty years ago, the Club of Rome, a group of scholars, scientists and industrialists, published a major report, The Limits to Growth. It sold millions of copies worldwide. The basic message was that the earth’s resources are finite, so we cannot continue with the rate of economic growth which is exponential. One of the founders of the Club of Rome was the Italian industrialist and scholar Aurelio Peccei. In a later conversation, Peccei says that philosophy has lagged well behind technological innovations. No one seems to be able to keep up with the ‘fast-growing tangle of complexities’. He says we should construct an overview to understand why we find ourselves in this position and then form a new ‘ethics of life’.
Some twenty-five years ago, French philosopher Edgar Morin underlined some fundamental philosophical and political questions that needed to be addressed to confront the planetary emergency. He said that ‘to invest in political rethinking involves a veritable refoundation, which requires that thinking itself be reformed’. He called for a new birth of humanity’ and contended that all major transformations had been ‘a priori improbable, unthinkable until they actually came to pass’.
Over ten years ago, the feminist philosopher Donna Haraway says that ‘blaming Capitalism, Imperialism, Neoliberalism, Modernization does not convince’. These issues ‘demand difficult, unrelenting work; but they also demand joy, play, and response-ability to engage with unexpected others’. ‘
Some five years ago, the post-colonial scholar, Dipesh Chakrabarty refers to the need for a narrative that places humans at the conjuncture of three histories: the planet, life on the planet and the growth of empires, capital, and technology. The narrative would displace capitalist globalization as the central focus and make room for a much wider planetary history as an integral part of humanist thought and philosophy.
The questions asked by Peccei, Morin, Chakrabarty, Haraway and many other philosophers and scientists, reflect exactly what Serres addressed in dozens of publications and interviews over a period of fifty years. Serres responds to repeated calls for a totally different approach to the planetary crisis.
Faced with the real dangers we are running, what decision to make, what conduct to adopt, what organisations to build, what to rely on to respond to these demands? I try to provide a simple, local and global answer to questions that often distress our contemporaries. Philosophy is not worth an hour of trouble if it does not anticipate a future for which we are responsible (Michel Serres).
The philosophy of Michel Serres is little known outside France. He wrote over 70 books, many of which reflected on the history of the climate crisis and how to respond to it in a way that would make a real difference. Many of his books have been translated into English over recent years.
Serres’ approach to philosophy was in different ways ‘down to earth’. He drew inspiration from his humble rural background, and he disliked the insular academic world. He also drew inspiration from a remarkable range of sources. These included mathematics, science, literature, communication theory, ancient myths and religion. He is impossible to pigeonhole.
Serres believed that philosophy should invent new ways of thinking and living. It should learn from the past, but above all invent the future. He had firsthand experience of the horrors of the world but never lost hope.
This site introduces four Foundations of his response to the planetary emergency.
Over 30 years ago, Serres insisted we need to seek a global pact that includes all nature, including ourselves. He wrote about this in his book The Natural Contract, first published in 1990, and he frequently returned to the theme in later books.
Serres thought that our new understanding of the evolution of our planet and all living things could transform our relation to each other and the earth. The ‘Common Story’ reveals what all living beings share, the fundamental bonds of nature that underpin the formation of a natural contract.
Serres considered that new forms of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as the internet and artificial intelligence, possessed dangers. But he also thought the opportunities of ICTs could help form a global community that brought us closer to the rest of nature. The Web mirrored the entangled bonds of nature.
Serres considered that the abuse of the planet could not be separated from the abuse of each other. In his later work, Serres reflected on the need for a new global politics. The Natural Contract, a shared Common Story and world-wide access to each other and information about the world would provide key springboards for a new way of conducting politics.
The Branching Out blog supports, challenges and extends Serres’ ideas. Your comments and contributions are essential here in exploring pathways of hope that match the depth and extent of the planetary emergency.
For a more detailed introduction, you can download a copy of my Essay‘ ‘Who is Michel Serres and Why Should I Read Him’ (2026) or a French version: Qui est Michel Serres? (2026).
My paperback and eBook offer thorough accounts of his ecological thought: Philosophy for a Time of Crisis and Michel Serres and the Planetary Emergency (2026). More information: The Book.
Peter Johnson copyright 2026.