TL;DR
An academic essay by Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan examines how evangelical apocalyptic fiction, Cold War fallout culture and contemporary anxieties have contributed to a revived prepping movement that mixes high technology, luxury bunkers and militia-linked gun culture. The piece traces cultural and media threads from the Left Behind franchise through reality TV and recent luxury prepping coverage.
What happened
In a peer-reviewed essay published in b2o: An Online Journal’s special issue on “The New Extremism,” Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan map connections between evangelical apocalyptic narratives and contemporary prepping practices. They show how the Left Behind novels — a surprise commercial hit that framed the Rapture as a near-future global catastrophe — extended into films and a video game, and how that franchise presented its protagonists as technologically equipped survivors. The authors place this cultural phenomenon alongside a resurgence of material prepping: underground bunkers, silos and geodesic domes, some outfitted as high-end refuges. The essay situates the modern prepping revival in longer histories of Cold War fallout shelters, points to mainstream media such as the reality series Doomsday Preppers (2011–2014), and documents overlaps between prepping subcultures and right-leaning, gun-oriented militia formations profiled in outlets like VICE.
Why it matters
- Apocalyptic narratives have moved from sectarian margins to broader cultural acceptability, shaping preparedness practices.
- Technological and market forces have enabled a luxury prepping industry that echoes Cold War sheltering while adding modern comforts.
- Prepping subcultures often overlap with individualist and pro-gun political orientations, with potential civic and social implications.
- Media representations (fiction and reality TV) have helped normalize and spread survivalist imaginaries across audiences.
Key facts
- The essay is authored by Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan and was peer-reviewed for a special issue of b2o: An Online Journal.
- The Left Behind novel series (LaHaye and Jenkins) became a major commercial phenomenon and reframed the Rapture as a near-future disaster scenario.
- The franchise expanded into films (early installments starring Kirk Cameron and a later attempted 2014 reboot with Nicolas Cage) and a video game titled Left Behind: Eternal Forces.
- Scholars note the novels portray their protagonists as technologically modern and well-equipped for survival.
- Contemporary prepping includes a variety of structures — below-ground bunkers, silos and geodesic domes — sometimes built with significant expense and amenities.
- The new prepping trend is compared to Cold War fallout shelters; an Atlantic piece referenced in the essay traces that historical continuity.
- The reality series Doomsday Preppers aired on National Geographic from 2011 to 2014 and helped popularize prepper lifestyles.
- The essay documents links between prepping subcultures and right-leaning, armed militia formations, citing coverage such as VICE’s profile of the Georgia III% Security Force.
What to watch next
- Continued growth or mainstreaming of luxury prepping and bunker markets as a response to economic and environmental anxieties.
- The intersection of prepper communities with organized militia groups and pro-gun movements, and how media coverage frames those links.
- not confirmed in the source: any large-scale migration of wealthy individuals off-planet (space escape) as an organized or market-driven trend.
Quick glossary
- Rapture: In some Christian eschatologies, a prophesied event in which believers are taken up to heaven, leaving others behind to endure tribulation.
- Prepping: The practice of preparing for emergencies or societal collapse through stockpiling supplies, building shelters and training for self-sufficiency.
- Bunker: A fortified, often below-ground shelter designed to protect inhabitants from external threats or environmental harm.
- Eschatology: A field of theology concerned with final events, death, judgment and the ultimate destiny of humanity.
Reader FAQ
Who wrote the essay and where was it published?
The essay is by Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan and was peer-reviewed for a special issue of b2o: An Online Journal.
Did the Left Behind franchise cause the prepping movement?
The essay argues Left Behind contributed culturally to preparedness imaginaries, but direct causation between the novels and the broader prepping movement is not confirmed in the source.
Is contemporary prepping linked to political movements?
The authors report that many modern preppers lean right, emphasize individualism, and that there are documented overlaps with armed militia groups.
Are luxury bunkers common?
The essay and cited reporting note a phenomenon of high-end prepping and luxury bunkers, but the overall prevalence and scale are not confirmed in the source.
Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan — Left Behind: Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth Written by boundary2 in _b20_blockhover, b2o: an online journal, The New Extremism Sarah…
Sources
- Left Behind: Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth
- Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth
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