[Update: I got it down to five papers for the next one, and four for the one after that!] Hmm, let this be a lesson to me. Nobody, probably even me, is going to read all of this. I need to do write-ups every three or four articles (which, given the amount I read, means... Continue Reading →
There was an episode of the 80s guilty-pleasure private eye show "Remington Steele" (starring Pierce Brosnan avant la 007) that has something to say about neo-institutional theory and economic sociology. Sort of. The episode, called "Steele Knuckles, Glass Jaws" (the titles always had a pun on steel/still) has a boxer is trying to stay in... Continue Reading →
Barry Jones was the Australian Science Minister between 1983 and 1990, and a key figure in the coming of climate awareness to that country. He is also a pretty smart guy (didn't help him as a politician, naturlich). Keynes said something different but similar - We needed to be transruptive [another of my shoddy neologisms],... Continue Reading →
The US Secret Service spends a lot of time thinking about how to keep the people they protect alive. Overall, they're pretty good at it. I remember reading an interview with one of them once, where she emphasised one of the core things. If you are being attacked, do NOT focus on winning the fire fight.... Continue Reading →
“Why so sad?” she said, as I walked towards her in a cloud of gloom. Millicent (not real name) is a young woman who works somewhere I go a lot. I don’t know what kind of contract she is on. It’s probably not zero hours (yet). She probably has shit terms and conditions that leave... Continue Reading →
Chap called Gavin Gilchrist wrote some corking articles back in the mid-90s, the documented the nuts and bolts of how the Howard Government took over the Keating/coal industry-inspired Australian climate retreat and turbo-charged it. The piece I am quoting from below [Gilchrist, G. (1996) "Climate Changes: Why We Are Seen As Rebels" Sydney Morning Herald 8th... Continue Reading →
It’s an age-old dilemma; Existing industry has power, influence, lobbyists. The industries we need (solar, wind, energy efficiency etc) are smaller, weaker and as-yet-not-quite-there. So, how DO you get (enough) state bureaucrats to see and support an opportunity that isn’t there (yet)? How do you, when trying to talk about ‘green jobs,’ get the powerful... Continue Reading →
So, at the September 1997 "South Pacific Forum" in the Cook Islands some of the locals/hosts were mildly peeved that Australia was opposing emissions reductions. Ms McDonald, who headed the greenhouse task force in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, last week took on officials from Pacific island countries who feared their low-lying atolls... Continue Reading →
“Winston was smoking a Victory Cigarette which he held carefully horizontal. The new ration did not start till tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left. For the moment he had shut his ears to the remoter noises and was listening to the stuff that streamed out of the telescreen. It appeared that there had... Continue Reading →
Read a corking paper a coupla days ago, called “A dynamic conceptualization of power for sustainability research.” Definitely one that – despite being clearly written – that I will need to return to. For now, though, this quote from the first page... "… however, power is not so much an ‘essentially contested concept’ but rather... Continue Reading →
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