Add to calendar
iCal calendarThe second Inimkond seminar this semester will be held by Werner Krauss from the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht in Germany and is titled The climate trap: the dangerous relationship between climate research and politics.
The seminar will take place on Wednesday, Oct 1st, from 6 to 8pm in room T-415 (Tallinn University Terra building).
See also FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/370267586454568/
Abstract:
As an introduction, I will present my research activities as an anthropologist in the past decade on climate change, with a special focus on climate science. In the main part I will present the book I wrote together with a renowned climate scientist, entitled “The climate trap: the dangerous relationship between climate science and politics”. Why are climate negotiations notoriously unsuccessful, while greenhouse gas emissions are still on the rise? In our book we argue that the close relationship between climate science and politics has led to the politicization of climate science and the scientification of politics. Based on our own experiences and from an intersubjective perspective, we discuss the rise of climate research; popular climate discourse, the cultural history of climate, our activities in the blogosphere, and finally we suggest a new, ethnographically based approach in relation to an example from Northern Germany. In the last part of my presentation, I will talk about my experiences concerning the collaboration between a climate scientist and an anthropologist and open up the floor for a discussion of the role of anthropology in this highly politicized field.
Biography:
As a cultural anthropologist, my current research and writing is mostly about the anthropology of climate change, with a special focus on climate discourse, the role of climate science, and on the emergence of renewable energies. These topics evolved from my long-term interest in human-environment relationships, political ecology, (post-) environmental theory; the anthropology of landscapes; nature conservation; science & technology studies and multi-sited ethnography. I have conducted fieldwork in the Swiss Alps, in the South of Portugal (Alentejo), in Northern Germany and Texas on topics such as environmental conflicts, national parks, nature conservation, the emergence of renewable energies, climate change and climate science.
Other topics of interest are cultural studies, gender studies and the anthropology of sport. As an anthropologist, I feel at home in different academic communities; I have worked in many interdisciplinary fields with natural scientists, geographers, sociologists, Germanic and European studies and others.
My teaching covers a wide range of topics such as anthropological theory, political ecology, European Studies, climate change, human-animal relationships, or sports and globalization. I am also one of the editors of a weblog on climate change at the interface of science, politics and society,http://klimazwiebel.blogspot.com/
Inimkond: Current Issues in Anthropology and Beyond
full program at http://www.tlu.ee/en/estonian-institute-of-humanities/Anthropology/inimkond
This seminar series features speakers from anthropology and related fields, and fosters discussion of their research with a transdisciplinary audience. It aims to contribute to the culture of academic scholarship and debate at Tallinn University. Speakers include both local researchers and guests from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and with various takes on anthropological theory and methods. Presentations in the seminar series will be of interest to staff and students in anthropology, cultural theory, sociology, and history, among others.