Marc Hudson reflects on two academic events, and wonders if the right questions are being asked, or if "we" are pootling along happily in our comfort zones, slouching towards tenure (well, he's not) and apocalypse (well, all of us are). Over the last 24 hours I've "been" to three online seminars. The one in the... Continue Reading →
Worse-than-useless documentaries about “activism” – the why, the how, the what instead
We are allowing ourselves to brightside ourselves. FFS This is no better than the fucking gaslighting by those who would have us sleep through the apocalpyse. [Sweariness warning. I am trying to be more Omar - not the killing people bit, but the not cussing. Today, I'm failing. If that means you can't fucking share... Continue Reading →
Climate scientists attacked for 30 plus years. Sure, so what is to be done? #action #climate
So, as per my recent Conversation article, the climate scientists have been attacked for (more than) thirty years. The UNFCCC is a hopeless case (see slightly-less recent Conversation article). It is easy to talk about how everything is fubarred, and what am I against. This below expands on the theme of attacks on climate scientists,... Continue Reading →
Black Lives Matter to Fossil Fuel incumbents and #climate denialists – as a cloak and stabvest
People of Colour are gonna be shocked - SHOCKED - to learn that rich white people are sock-puppeting them in an effort to stay rich. Because, you know, it's so unusual for powerful interests to totally disregard the actual long-term health of everyone else, and to claim to be benevolent while continuing to despoil and... Continue Reading →
The four Cs- Coronavirus, Capitalism, Climate and Cats (“belling of”)
Another hot take about what may be coming. The USP for this one is that It tries to use some academic theories but in plain English It admits up front - “who the hell knows?” It actually foregrounds the crucial question other posts (e.g. this otherwise interesting one) ignore - “who is going to bell... Continue Reading →
Excellent Event: Ambiguous Transformations: Governance, Democracy, #Climate Transitions
Here’s the gist of a very long blog post. A senior academic (Professor Karin Bäckstrand) gave a very clear summation of the relative importance of the Paris Agreement, the distinctions between ecological democracy and environmental democracy and the (possible) path of transformation that Swedish society is undergoing. She did this in the context of an... Continue Reading →
Of manels, transitions and Ottawa. #IST2018 and #IST2019
The organisers of #IST2018 have worked extremely hard, and pulled together what has already been an interesting and thought-provoking programme (with a day and a half still to come). Barring a few things in the conference programme (the floor 1 and 4 switcheroo), it's been a well-oiled machine - in part thanks to the affable... Continue Reading →
Fear and the capture of new markets #transitions #energy
Oh I want a post-doc. Not just for the paying of the bills: I actually know what I want to study too. I want to study the mobilisation of emotions (fear, greed, hope etc) by entrepreneurs and contrapreneurs to create new markets capture existing/emerging ones prevent new ones forming because it offends your a) worldview... Continue Reading →
Generosity and conviviality in the age of algorithmic oppression: #Manchester #odmnoble
This was a superb event. A diverse audience of somewhere between 80 and 90 attended a truly excellent event on 'algorithms of oppression' yesterday in Manchester. The event, hosted by Open Data Manchester with the support of The Federation and Manchester School of Art, was centred on a lecture and q and a with Dr Safiya... Continue Reading →
Maps, territories, landscapes and moonscapes: three brilliant guides to the transformations
It's easy to get lost, to feel lost, especially when you're diving into new literature(s). Your supervisors can do just so much (mostly tell your thesis is not up to scratch (yet), or point you in the direction of some really good literature (institutional work, much?) But for the bigger/biggest picture? Well, who has the... Continue Reading →