Robert MacNeil Christie, Author

A bold, urgent, and transformative call to action…
Christie’s writing is sharp and thought-provoking, making complex ideas accessible. He navigates the intricacies of modern society with precision, pushing readers to confront their roles in the systems he critiques. Both a wake-up call and a guide, this book calls for decisive action toward a sustainable, equitable future, making it an essential resource for policymakers, activists, and concerned citizens alike.
~ The Prairies Book Review

In Holding IT Together, Robert MacNeil Christie forces us to recognise that as we approach environmental tipping points, we are equally hurtling towards the end of Industrial Civilisation. The Holocene, and the Goldilocks period, enjoyed by only a privileged segment of society, is effectively over. Political-economic and financial powers have succeeded in taking away the democratic power of the people they are meant to represent, to the detriment of the general populace. This leads to social chaos. The source of our hope is our agency—by mustering our political will and cultural creativity, leveraging true democratic politics, science and indigenous knowledge to create a pathway way to our human survival. I highly recommend this book, as an eye opener to the systemic levers that are causing our collective inaction, but also the power we have to turn this juggernaut around quickly.
~ Antoinette Vermilye, Co-Founder of She Changes Climate; Co-Founder of the Gallifrey Foundation, Geneva Area, Switzerland

Holding IT Together is somewhat rare in the environmental space today: an honest and accessible exploration of why we are on the precipice of ecological and social collapse, and what we need to do to retreat from the edge. What you won’t find in these pages is unrealistic and unfounded techno-optimism, nor is there the hero-worshipping of today’s so-called “leaders” (both business and political) to “save us” that we see so often in the environmental movement.
What you will find is a candid and well-researched analysis of social systems, the harms of growth-based economics, the role of imperialism in maintaining globalised corporate states, the flip-side of ‘progress’, the need for degrowth and ecological societies and the role of bona fide democracy in getting there.
Holding IT Together is an important and necessary read for anyone who is looking for a genuine understanding of our predicament and what we can do from here. ~ Erin Remblance, widely followed commentator, analyst, and activist on Climate Chaos, Economic Degrowth, and Social Ecology, Sydney, Australia

Robert Christie has delivered! On September 16, 2014, on his blog TheHopefulRealist.com, he posed a simple, yet critical question: Climate Science or Social Science? The chasm continues between the facts of climate change and the inability (or unwillingness) to transfer that reality into focused social action and change: Science had spoken and it was now the people’s turn. Holding IT Together asks us to be more aware of and to utilize our collective-intersectional-agency in order to survive. We don’t need a makeover but a do-over—a complete reset in how we understand and can ultimately survive, in the ONE future we all will share. As the saying goes, all politics are local—and so is our survival—we must all do our part to dismantle the current normalization of human and environmental destruction and the societal structures that support it. ~ Derrick Jones, PhD, Director and Community Liaison for the UCSC Oakes College Community-Based Action Research and Advocacy Program, University of California, Santa Cruz

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Holding IT Together is quite interesting and educative at the same time. Dr. Christie’s decades of research and expertise shine through in this important work; his anecdotes and observations are intertwined throughout the chapters, making the content feel authentic and relatable. His writing style is conversational and accessible, making the content feel approachable and engaging.
~ Olatomide Ojajune, author of Green Earth Green Life, Host on Talk Climate Africa, Forester and Environmental Advocate, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Incisive critique of the extreme hierarchy of capital and power we live within, how things got this way and how maladaptive it remains for us and the planet. ~ James F. Richardson, PhD, author of Our Worst Strength: American Individualism and Its Hidden Discontents

Holding IT Together is timely and compelling. Drawing on his distinguished career as a sociologist, Robert MacNeil Christie argues persuasively that we are faced with a convergence of environmental and social crises. These result from over-exploitation of natural resources and reliance on unsustainable economic models. He maintains that global society has now reached a tipping point: Earth can no longer sustain current levels of extraction, consumption and waste. In response, Dr. Christie proposes innovative ideas on how we can avert a global catastrophe. This thought-provoking book is a must read for policy makers and concerned citizens.
~ Mark L. Asquino, U.S. Ambassador (Ret.) and author of Spanish Connections: My Diplomatic Journey from Venezuela to Equatorial Guinea

Social psychologist Robert Christie brings to the climate discussion well-articulated points about behavioral and institutional changes necessary to build a viable ecological civilization, making a strong case that our existential predicament will not be resolved by technical fixes by global power elites such as the “Davos Men.” The answers are not for sissies and their urgency calls for immediate action. ~ Earl Kessler, author of Letters from Alfonso: Learning to Listen; Advisor: Shelter and Settlements Team Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance 2019-2023; Deputy Executive Director Asian Disaster Preparedness Center 2003-2006; Consultant: Asian Development Bank, World Bank, UN-HABITAT; Lead Author: Climate Resilient Cities Primer, World Bank, 2009; Director of the Regional Urban Development Office/South Asia/USAID 1993-1998