An embedded growth obligation is a structural requirement for a civilization to continue to exist. It refers to the need for continual growth and expansion in order to maintain stability and prevent collapse. This can be seen in the way that modern societies are built upon a foundation of constant economic growth, as well as the way that systems of power and control are reinforced through expansion and conquest. In a self-terminating civilization, the need for growth would eventually become unsustainable and the civilization would be forced to confront the limits of its own expansion. This would necessitate a fundamental shift in the way that the civilization understands and organizes itself, potentially leading to its own dissolution as it reaches the limits of its growth and must find a new way to exist.

See also: exponential growth, collective action, critical infrastructure, existential risk, systems thinking