Ecological crises are shaking the foundations of social coexistence. They confront societies with the need for a historically unprecedented socio-ecological transformation — one that is both urgent and deeply contested. In the face of the existential dangers of climate change, Adloff argues for a double strategy: immediate ecological modernization to prevent collapse and climate barbarism, combined with a long-term commitment to radical systemic change.
The book explores the role and responsibility of the social sciences in this transformation. It asks how they can name the limits of what is politically and socially feasible, rethink the relationship between nature and society, and contribute to imagining alternative social worlds. Adloff calls for a “sociology of the real and the possible”: a form of social science that neither denies the severity of the climate crisis nor gives up on the task of shaping more resilient, democratic, and solidaristic futures.

The publication offers an important contribution to current debates on convivialism, ecological responsibility, and the conditions of peaceful and sustainable coexistence. It speaks directly to the question of how freedom, democracy, and the common good can be rebalanced in an age of ecological limits and growing social fragmentation

After the end of linear ideas of progress, Adloff invites readers to search for new ways of thinking and acting — ways that acknowledge the realities of the climate crisis while keeping open the possibility of social transformation.

The book was published November 2025 by transcript Verlag and is also available Open Access here.