Date/Time Date(s) - 18/03/20266:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location Alumni Memorial Hall
Presenting a Public Lecture Hosted by the Department of Political Science and the Centre for Climate Change
States of Transition: From Governing the Environment to Transforming Society
This seminar welcomes Dr. Peter Newell as a guest speaker in the Department of Political Science.
What is the role of the state in supporting transitions and deeper transformations towards a more sustainable world? This question is receiving increasing academic and policy attention from interest in green (new) deals through to more critical attention to the ecocidal and extractivist nature of states. Despite this, the focus often starts and frequently ends with the governance of transitions, where the state is merely one actor among many and the tensions and contradictions between the range of roles it simultaneously performs are often left under-analysed. The state is often caricatured variously in political debate as too big, too powerful, too small, too inefficient, too ineffective or too unsustainable. But the reality is more complex, nuanced and contingent on the historical and geographical context, prevailing social relations and the state function and issue in question. Recognition of this forms the starting point of my new book States of Transition. This lecture will share some of its key arguments and insights.
Peter Newell is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex and theme lead for sustainability in the Sussex School for Progressive Futures. Besides working for academic institutions including the universities of Sussex, Oxford, Warwick and East Anglia, and FLACSO Argentina, he has undertaken commissioned research and policy work for the governments of the UK, India, Ireland, Sweden and Finland and for international organisations such as UNDP, GEF, UNCTAD, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. His recent research focuses on the political economy of low carbon energy transitions, but he has undertaken research, advocacy and consultancy work on different aspects of climate change for over 30 years. His single and co-authored books include Climate for Change; Governing Climate Change; Globalization and the Environment; Climate Capitalism; Transnational Climate Change Governance; Global Green Politics; Power Shift; Changing Our Ways and States of Transition.
While this event is free, space is limited – please register for a seat by going to this link or scanning the QR code below.