Anticipating Breakdown

A Call for Interdisciplinary Futures in Cascading Crises and Speculative Risk Communication

Abstract

This essay calls for an urgent reorientation of risk communication research and practice toward interdisciplinary futures in an era of cascading crises. Hazards today unfold across interdependent infrastructures, multiplying disruptions that no single discipline can address in isolation. The concept of speculative risk communication captures this challenge by emphasizing anticipation: messages that project possible breakdowns into the present, guiding publics to prepare before crises fully materialize. However, anticipatory communication also carries ethical, political, and strategic stakes that demand an integrated perspective. The central argument of this research agenda is that communication must be treated as core infrastructure, sustaining trust and coordinating action across strained systems. Knowledge infrastructures that often reinforce disciplinary silos must instead incentivize collaboration and cooperation. This essay issues a call to action for scholars, practitioners, and institutions: dismantle silos, integrate insights, and build interdisciplinary futures capable of anticipating breakdown with coherence and ethical responsibility.