VIDEO

20 February 2024 | A conversation with Prof Danielle Celermajer & Dr Frederic Hanusch How can deliberative democracy listen to nonhumans? What is the normative case for including non-humans in democracy? What is the role of democratic experimentation in overcoming the limits of anthropocentric institutions? Watch an engaging conversation featuring Prof Danielle Celermajer from the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney, and Dr Frederic Hanusch from the Panel on Planetary Thinking, Justus Liebig University. This event kicked off our 2024 conversation series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy. This seminar was chaired by Hans Asenbaum. About the speakers Danielle Celermajer is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney, and the Deputy Director of the Sydney Environment Institute. Her expertise lie in human rights, theories and practices of justice and the intersection between human, environmental and animal justice and ethics. Frederic Hanusch is co-founder and scientific manager of the “Panel on Planetary Thinking” at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Fellow at THE NEW INSTITUTE in Hamburg, and co-convener of the Earth System Governance Project’s Working Group on Democracy. Frederic recently published "The Politics of Deep Time“ with Cambridge University Press, which explores how planetary temporalities can be politically institutionalized. Currently, he is working on "The Planetary Condition". Seminar Convener: Adele Webb Online floor manager: Ferdinand Sanchez All Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.

In his lecture Dr. Frederic Hanusch takes a look at established democracies separately, some appear to be more successful in dealing with climate change than others. Yet the characteristics of climate change and the unintended consequences of democracy might contradict each other to different degrees, e.g. some democracies perhaps find better solutions than others to overcome their short-termism, in order to be able to better deal with the long time horizon of climate change. Hence, different levels of democracy might be an explanatory factor for differences in the climate performances. This lecture introduces the democracy-climate nexus by describing findings about the relationship, discussing main arguments of the debate and presenting an empirical overview by comparing the climate policies of over 30 democracies. Frederic Hanusch studied from 2005-2011 at the universities of Gießen, Castellón and Heidelberg, where he received a M.A. in political science, philosophy and sociology. From 2011-2015 he did his Dr. phil. as part of the research group "Democracy and Climate Change" at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI). Besides, he worked from 2013-2016 at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In 2014 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto. Since 2016 he is part of the IASS. His research is focused on a combination of democracy research and dynamics of global change. He published with the WBGU on the SDGs, international climate protection and global urbanization. At the KWI, he worked on a wide range of topics in the humanities and social sciences. In 2017, his book "Democracy and Climate Change" was published in the Routledge Global Cooperation Series. At the IASS, he studies the importance of time and future in context of global change.

In his lecture Dr. Frederic Hanusch looks at the case study of Canada’s Kyoto Protocol process from 1995-2012 to explain the mechanisms of democratic influence on climate change in depth. The Canadian type of democracy detected is characterized by a strong prerogative, diminished accountability, partially well-organized inclusiveness, a lack of participatory structures and, overall, low degrees of democratic quality. The Canadian process was one of missed opportunities. Undemocratically developed targets will neither get the legitimation nor the momentum to be translated into a climate change plan and will doubtless not be implemented in the form required to reach sufficient GHG reductions. Consequently, this lecture shows that overall stronger democratic qualities would have led to improved climate performances. Frederic Hanusch studied from 2005-2011 at the universities of Gießen, Castellón and Heidelberg, where he received a M.A. in political science, philosophy and sociology. From 2011-2015 he did his Dr. phil. as part of the research group "Democracy and Climate Change" at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI). Besides, he worked from 2013-2016 at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In 2014 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto. Since 2016 he is part of the IASS. His research is focused on a combination of democracy research and dynamics of global change. He published with the WBGU on the SDGs, international climate protection and global urbanization. At the KWI, he worked on a wide range of topics in the humanities and social sciences. In 2017, his book "Democracy and Climate Change" was published in the Routledge Global Cooperation Series. At the IASS, he studies the importance of time and future in context of global change. This lecture is a part of the Earth101 climate change series.

In his lecture Dr. Frederic Hanusch discusses how time has always been a central dimension, both for humankind and our interactions with the Earth system. Consequently, time has been a consistent theme of philosophy and the sciences, and specific issues such as social acceleration or future generations have recently gained attention in the humanities and social sciences. However, to investigate and direct the influence of time on global change, more temporal elements — such as linear and cyclic time arrangements, (de)synchronization of social and natural times, or the past-, present- or future orientations of political institutions — have to be explored. This is necessary, since in the Anthropocene humankind seems for the first time able to manipulate time extensively and thus to significantly influence planetary systems. This lecture starts exploring how humans create time designs shaping the planet and, accordingly, why time should become a matter of public debate. Frederic Hanusch studied from 2005-2011 at the universities of Gießen, Castellón and Heidelberg, where he received a M.A. in political science, philosophy and sociology. From 2011-2015 he did his Dr. phil. as part of the research group "Democracy and Climate Change" at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI). Besides, he worked from 2013-2016 at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In 2014 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto. Since 2016 he is part of the IASS. His research is focused on a combination of democracy research and dynamics of global change. He published with the WBGU on the SDGs, international climate protection and global urbanization. At the KWI, he worked on a wide range of topics in the humanities and social sciences. In 2017, his book "Democracy and Climate Change" was published in the Routledge Global Cooperation Series. At the IASS, he studies the importance of time and future in context of global change.

Frederic Hanusch did his Dr. phil. as part of the research group “Democracy and Climate Change” at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI). He worked from 2013-2016 at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and has since 2016 been a part of the project “Futurisation of Politics” at the IASS, the Institute for Advances Sustainability Studies at Potsdam. His research is focused on a combination of democracy research, global change research and the study of time. His most recent publication is Democracy and Climate Change (2017) published in the Routledge Global Cooperation Series.

Frederic Hanusch did his Dr. phil. as part of the research group “Democracy and Climate Change” at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI). He worked from 2013-2016 at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and has since 2016 been a part of the project “Futurisation of Politics” at the IASS, the Institute for Advances Sustainability Studies at Potsdam. His research is focused on a combination of democracy research, global change research and the study of time. His most recent publication is Democracy and Climate Change (2017) published in the Routledge Global Cooperation Series. Christian Parenti has a PhD in sociology (co-supervised in geography) from the London School of Economics and is a professor in the Global Liberal Studies Program at New York University. His latest book, Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence (2011), explores how climate change is already causing violence as it interacts with the legacies of economic neoliberalism and cold-war militarism. The book involved several years of travel and research in conflict zones of the Global South. Christian’s current research focuses on the environmental history of state involvement in American economic development, from the earliest days of the republic onward. As a journalist, he has reported extensively from Afghanistan, Iraq, and various parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His articles have appeared in Fortune, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Middle East Report, London Review of Books, Mother Jones, and The Nation (where he is a contributing editor). He has also helped make several documentaries and has won numerous journalistic awards, including the 2009 Lange-Tailor Prize and “Best Magazine Writing 2008” from the Society for Professional Journalists. He also received a 2009 Emmy nomination for the documentary Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi.