ACCESS Seminar: The politics of eco-anxiety

Abstract:

Academic and lay attention to 'eco-anxiety' is rapidly growing, with a default but implicit politics of concern for those who experience eco-anxiety. Yet as awareness and concern about climate change, mass extinction and compounding system collapse grows around the world, the pervasive political and cultural dimensions of this social change need to be considered. In this seminar I will explore the intersectional politics of who does (and does not) feel what about environmental change, the role of (a lack of) policy in these issues, and the ideologies, imaginaries, injustices and social movements that create and emerge from these issues. In addition, I will reflect on the methodological and disciplinary approaches and gaps in research, and the political implications of these.

Biography:

Blanche Verlie is an uninvited settler living on unceded Gadigal Country, who is currently completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Sydney Environment Institute (University of Sydney). Her multidisciplinary research explores how people understand, experience, and respond to climate change, as well as how we could do this differently. Her work has focused on the affective dimensions of climate change, and her book Learning to live with climate change: From anxiety to transformation is available open access.