The Global Environmental Crisis

Grass_closeupIn this talk, Professor Paul Wapner,  from the Environmental Politics Program at the School of International Services at American University, will examine the relationship between crisis and response in reference to the global environmental crisis. Should the world adopt a politics of crisis to address global environmental challenges?

 


The Global Environmental Crisis 

Wednesday March 23rd, 2016, 1 pm, at 228 Battelle-Tompkins Hall

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For decades, environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about the environmental “crisis.”  They warn that the earth’s ecosystems are in acute danger and that injustices abound as people exploit each other through the medium of nature.  How useful is the concept of “crisis” to describe environmental degradation?  It is certainly the case that climate change, freshwater scarcity, loss of biological diversity, and other factors are undermining the planet’s life-support systems, and that untold numbers of people and creatures are affected.  But does labeling these phenomena as a “crisis” help or hinder humanity’s ability to respond?  In this talk, Professor Paul Wapner will examine the relationship between crisis and response.  Should the world adopt a politics of crisis to address global environmental challenges?

 


 About our speaker

Paul WapnProfessor Paul Wapner’s research focuses on global environmental politics, environmental thought, transnational environmental activism, and environmental ethics. He is particularly concerned with understanding how societies can live through this historical moment of environmental intensification in ways that enhance human dignity, compassion, and justice, and come to respect and nurture the more-than-human world. His books include: Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics, Principled World Politics: The Challenge of Normative International Relations, Living Through the End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism, and, most recently, Global Environmental Politics: From Person to Planet (co-edited with Simon Nicholson). He is currently editing a book titled, Reimagining Climate Change, and continues to lead workshops for professors that explore contemplative practices and environmental engagement.

 

Click on the images below to find out more about Paul Wapner’s books.

 

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