The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021
This article was prompted by a Ministerial veto (2021) of the Australian Research Council’s decision to fund a research project by the authors to explore the student-led climate movement in Australia. It was also prompted by criticism of the veto which accused the Minister of bringing “politics” int...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Australian Journal of Environmental Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262300037X/type/journal_article |
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| _version_ | 1849769989176819712 |
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| author | Rob Watts Judith Bessant Michelle Catanzaro Philippa Collin Stewart Jackson |
| author_facet | Rob Watts Judith Bessant Michelle Catanzaro Philippa Collin Stewart Jackson |
| author_sort | Rob Watts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article was prompted by a Ministerial veto (2021) of the Australian Research Council’s decision to fund a research project by the authors to explore the student-led climate movement in Australia. It was also prompted by criticism of the veto which accused the Minister of bringing “politics” into what was represented as a scholarly matter. It addresses two questions: How should we understand this idea of “politics” in the context of Australian climate politics since the 1990s? Secondly it considers dominant ways of thinking about “the political” devised by ancient Greek writers and politicians which still inform the European liberal tradition. We question how fit for purpose this approach is in the Anthropocene? Our key argument is that the western tradition of thinking about “the political” is deeply anthropocentric. Historical traditions have encouraged inegalitarian and anti-democratic accounts of who can be political by excluding different kinds of people from political life. The Anthropocene requires a new, critically reflexive account of “the political” that is inclusive of people currently marginalized and excluded as well as nonhumans and nonliving components of ecosystems on which we all depend. This extends the idea of democracy beyond the human and points to a politics of climate justice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b81d7b51eea5484cb5f45fa3feff1b31 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0814-0626 2049-775X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian Journal of Environmental Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-b81d7b51eea5484cb5f45fa3feff1b312025-08-20T03:03:11ZengCambridge University PressAustralian Journal of Environmental Education0814-06262049-775X2024-06-014043144410.1017/aee.2023.37The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021Rob Watts0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2886-1366Judith Bessant1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7385-5358Michelle Catanzaro2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9596-8289Philippa Collin3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0015-4213Stewart Jackson4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4290-2956RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaRMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaWestern Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW, AustraliaWestern Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW, AustraliaUniversity of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaThis article was prompted by a Ministerial veto (2021) of the Australian Research Council’s decision to fund a research project by the authors to explore the student-led climate movement in Australia. It was also prompted by criticism of the veto which accused the Minister of bringing “politics” into what was represented as a scholarly matter. It addresses two questions: How should we understand this idea of “politics” in the context of Australian climate politics since the 1990s? Secondly it considers dominant ways of thinking about “the political” devised by ancient Greek writers and politicians which still inform the European liberal tradition. We question how fit for purpose this approach is in the Anthropocene? Our key argument is that the western tradition of thinking about “the political” is deeply anthropocentric. Historical traditions have encouraged inegalitarian and anti-democratic accounts of who can be political by excluding different kinds of people from political life. The Anthropocene requires a new, critically reflexive account of “the political” that is inclusive of people currently marginalized and excluded as well as nonhumans and nonliving components of ecosystems on which we all depend. This extends the idea of democracy beyond the human and points to a politics of climate justice.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262300037X/type/journal_articleClimatepoliticscritical educationdemocracy |
| spellingShingle | Rob Watts Judith Bessant Michelle Catanzaro Philippa Collin Stewart Jackson The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 Australian Journal of Environmental Education Climate politics critical education democracy |
| title | The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 |
| title_full | The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 |
| title_fullStr | The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 |
| title_short | The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021 |
| title_sort | political in the anthropocene reflections on a ministerial veto 2021 |
| topic | Climate politics critical education democracy |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S081406262300037X/type/journal_article |
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