14. Covid, climate and emergency politics // MIKE HULME

Forest of Thought

What can the covid pandemic teach us about handling the climate crisis? We’ve seen that governments have not hesitated to take bold action when faced with this virus, by going into lockdowns and declaring states of emergency. Should we respond in a similar way to climate change? Or does emergency politics risk narrowing our field of view and undermine our democracies? Joining us in the Forest of Thought is Professor of Human Geography Mike Hulme.

Mike Hulme is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Pembroke College. His work explores the idea of climate change using historical, cultural and scientific analyses, investigating the numerous ways in which climate change is deployed in public and political discourse. He has just released his latest book ‘Climate Change’, which is part of the Routledge Key Ideas in Geography book series.

LINKS:

• Mike Hulme’s blog on re-socialisation after the pandemic: https://mikehulme.org/re-socialising-a-vaccinated-world-requires-political-struggle/
• Mike’s latest book : https://www.routledge.com/Climate-Change/Hulme/p/book/9780367422035
• Niels Gilman’s article on avocado politics: https://thebreakthrough.org/journal/no-12-winter-2020/avocado-politics
• ‘Emergency politics is dangerous’ article by Mike Hulme: https://issues.org/climate-emergency-politics-is-dangerous/
• Forthcoming book by Taylor Dotson: ‘The Divide: How Fanatical Certitude is Destroying Democracy’.