No man is an island – Prepper culture, collective crisis preparedness and shared dystopias

The interest in prepping, i.e., the practice of preparing oneself for a future crisis, has grown in Sweden and other western countries in recent years – reaching a peak at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising even further due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a cultural phenomenon, prepping exists at the intersection of sub-culture, hobby activity, and civil defense.

Focus is placed on the development of skills and material ‘preps’ that will aid in managing short- or long-term disruptions in societal infrastructure – if not its outright collapse.

The rise of prepper culture coincides with the proliferation of nebulous threats in late modernity – such as climate change and terrorism – as well as an increased emphasis on individual responsibility in crisis preparedness policy. Control and independence – from infrastructure, markets, and others – are held up as core values within prepping.

At the same time, most preppers recognize that “no man is an island” and that forms of collective organization are a necessity. This project aims to examine these kinds of communities, asking the question: What things and experiences are possible to share in the face of future disasters, and what tensions arise between individual, group, and society?

Using ethnographic methods, such as observation and interviews, the sharing of material goods, information, and responsibilities will be explored in parallel to the collective distribution of hopes, fears, and future imaginaries.