Events

Latest Past Events

Corporations, Markets and Climate Change: Opposition or Opportunities?

Room 650, Social Sciences Building, University of Sydney Science Road, Camperdown

Corporations and capitalism are often blamed for environmental problems, and on climate change we are often told that there needs to be a ‘balance’ between economic and environmental outcomes.  This suggests they are mutually contradictory, and therefore that the environmental damage resulting from economic imperatives must somehow be accommodated.  On the other hand, there is enormous potential for business to drive the solutions necessary for decarbonising our economy given the economic motivators to do so through markets.  One reason why this is not stressed as much as it could be is that those benefitting from the status quo are in a position to politically frustrate the changes necessary, while for often ideological reasons others believe that the government must take the lead.  The presenters on this panel tease out the opposition and opportunities involved in such debates. Speakers: John Mikler (Chair) and Imogen Ryan: Gaslighting Australia: The Instrumental Power of Australia’s Mining and Energy Industries John Mikler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. He researches corporations' relations with states, civil society and international organisations, as well as how they are political actors in their own right. He has published […]

Free

Climate contestation: mobilisations, intersections, possibilities

Virtual

UTS Global Goals Month and ASSA Social Sciences Week 2024 UTS Annual Andrew Jakubowicz Lecture Climate contestation: mobilisations, intersections, possibilities Friday 13 September 12noon-130pm Online event, free registration: here With advancing climate change there are new convergences, both against climate action and for it. What intersectional alignments emerge? How does this shift politics, local and transnational? What barriers and possibilities are created? This Social Science Week Roundtable reflects on the state-of-play as society responds to climate disruption. Chair: Chris Ho (UTS) Presenters: James Goodman (UTS) - Is society 'climatizing'? Heidi Norman (UNSW) - Indigenous Peoples and climate change Priya Pillai (UTS/ASAR) - View from India - Global South climate justice Jon Marshall (UTS) - The conservatives: anti-renewables and the nuclear lobby Michelle Catanzaro (WSU) - Youth climate protest Julia Scott-Stevenson (UTS) - Diverse imagination and climate futures Discussant: Andrew Jakubowicz (UTS) There will be short contributions followed by Chair-moderated discussion. The forum will be in zoom meeting room format to allow participants to directly contribute. The meeting will be recorded and edited to publish on UTS Central News. Hosted by Social and Political Sciences discipline, FASS UTS, with the Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (CSERC). Further info: James Goodman, james.goodman@uts.edu.au

Free

Solidarity and the right to protest: student encampments for Gaza

Esme Timbery Creative Practice Lab UNSW Kensington Campus, Sydney

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on the global phenomenon of student solidarity encampments for Gaza. Australian university students erected eleven encampments in campuses across Australia. Panellists will reflect on the encampments, position them within the long and rich history of student protests and activism in Australia and globally, and explore legal questions these encampments raise in relation to the right to protect, freedom of expression, and right of assembly. Chair: Prof Ben Golder, School of Law, Society and Criminology, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Ben's work is situated at the intersection of critical legal theory, contemporary political theory, and critical engagements with international law and human rights. Panel: Rand Katib, student representative and community organiser Rand is a student representative and grassroots community organiser. She was active in the Sydney University encampment Dr Elizabeth Strakosch, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne Liz's work examines the dynamics of race and settler colonialism in public policy. She is currently an ARC DECRA fellow and co-director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research, a board member of the Institute for Postcolonial Studies, and an Executive Officer of the Jewish Council of Australia. Prof Luke McNamara, School of […]