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

17th Annual Wheelwright Lecture: Dollar Hegemony as Law-Making Power, or How the Dollar Shapes the Rules of Global Capitalism

Lecture Theatre 200, Social Sciences Building (A02), The University of Sydney, Science Road

Speaker: Ntina Tzouvala, Australian National University Lawyers are latecomers in discussions about dollar hegemony and its effects on international relations and order. The overt weaponisation of the US Dollar in the past 10-15 years has made this reality impossible to ignore, but has largely directed legal debates toward the urgent, but limited, question of sanctions. In addition, discussions about dollar hegemony and the law often focus on the crucial, but unnecessarily narrow, issue of monetary sovereignty. Taking these two issues seriously, this lecture will suggest that they are only part of a broader range of powers and privileges afforded to the United States by dollar hegemony. Deploying a materialist understanding of international law-making, I will suggest that dollar hegemony operates as law-making power in ways antithetical to notions of equal sovereignty that emerged after decolonisation. In so arguing, I also aim to open a dialogue both with heterodox political economists and with law and political economy (LPE) scholars about the precise relationship between international law and the political economy of global capitalism. Ntina Tzouvala is Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law. Her work focuses on the political economy, history and theory of international law. She is the author of Capitalism […]

Free

Wealth And Giving In Australia: An Examination Of The Evidence And Policy Implications

The University of Western Australia, Business School Hackett Drive, Perth

This presentation from Professor Paul Flatau (Director, Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia) will examine trends in the distribution of income and wealth in Australia including by high net wealth and ultra-high net wealth individuals and philanthropic giving of Australians and the potential for giving to rise to achieve positive social impact. The presentation will explore the rate of tax-deductible donations in Australia, and giving among the wealthiest Australians. Overall, Australia is one of the world’s richest nations, and the wealthiest Australians are currently experiencing unprecedented growth in their fortunes. However, Australia’s giving record remains relatively low compared with other wealthy countries. There is untapped potential that exists to better fund the not-for-profit sector. The  presentation is organised by the Economic Society of Australia (Western Australia)

Free