Global Governance Futures: Imperfect Utopias or Bust
Global Governance Futures
53 episodes
4 months ago
In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Simon Dalby, one of the most original thinkers in critical geopolitics and environmental security. His scholarship has fundamentally reshaped how we understand the relationship between ecology, violence, and global governance – pioneering the concept of political geoecology and, more recently, probing the incendiary entanglements of fossil fuels, statecraft, and planetary breakdown.
We explore Simon’s intellectual journey, from early work on geopolitics and discourses of security, to his provocative interventions on anthropogenic fire and the combustible politics of the climate crisis, captured in his recent book Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate-Disrupted World.
With characteristic clarity and urgency, Simon unpacks the dangerous inertia of existing institutions and the need to stop “governing as if the Earth were not burning.” We discuss the challenge of reimagining sovereignty, security, and governance in the context of Earth system disruption – and why a politics of planetary responsibility must begin with confronting fossil modernity head-on.
Simon Dalby is Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a former co-editor of the journal Geopolitics and author of multiple influential books on climate, war, and the changing foundations of global order.
Simon’s profile can be found here: https://balsillieschool.ca/people/simon-dalby/
We discussed:
• Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate Disrupted World (2024): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/pyromania/9781788216517/
• Review of Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises by J. Blake & N. Gilman (2024): https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXVI-24.pdf
• Firepower, Climate and the Dilemma of Security, RUSI Commentary, May 2022: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/firepower-climate-and-dilemmas-security
• Rethinking Environmental Security (2022): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/rethinking-environmental-security-9781800375840.html
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In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Simon Dalby, one of the most original thinkers in critical geopolitics and environmental security. His scholarship has fundamentally reshaped how we understand the relationship between ecology, violence, and global governance – pioneering the concept of political geoecology and, more recently, probing the incendiary entanglements of fossil fuels, statecraft, and planetary breakdown.
We explore Simon’s intellectual journey, from early work on geopolitics and discourses of security, to his provocative interventions on anthropogenic fire and the combustible politics of the climate crisis, captured in his recent book Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate-Disrupted World.
With characteristic clarity and urgency, Simon unpacks the dangerous inertia of existing institutions and the need to stop “governing as if the Earth were not burning.” We discuss the challenge of reimagining sovereignty, security, and governance in the context of Earth system disruption – and why a politics of planetary responsibility must begin with confronting fossil modernity head-on.
Simon Dalby is Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a former co-editor of the journal Geopolitics and author of multiple influential books on climate, war, and the changing foundations of global order.
Simon’s profile can be found here: https://balsillieschool.ca/people/simon-dalby/
We discussed:
• Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate Disrupted World (2024): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/pyromania/9781788216517/
• Review of Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises by J. Blake & N. Gilman (2024): https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXVI-24.pdf
• Firepower, Climate and the Dilemma of Security, RUSI Commentary, May 2022: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/firepower-climate-and-dilemmas-security
• Rethinking Environmental Security (2022): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/rethinking-environmental-security-9781800375840.html
Global Governance Futures: Imperfect Utopias or Bust
1 hour 22 minutes 26 seconds
8 months ago
Craig Murphy – The Long Arc of Global Governance
In this episode, we welcome one of the most influential voices in international relations, Professor Craig Murphy. A pioneer in global governance scholarship, Craig has been at the forefront of research on international organizations, industrial change, and the historical evolution of global political structures. His work bridges critical theory, historical materialism, and the study of transnational social movements, offering a sweeping perspective on the forces that have shaped our world. In recognition of his significant contribution to the field, Craig has received the Distinguished Senior Scholar Award in International Political Economy (2013) and International Organization (2024) from the International Studies Associations.
In this conversation, we trace Craig’s trajectory through the intellectual landscape of the 1970s, where emerging ideas on world-systems theory, quantitative peace research, and environmental limits reshaped the study of international politics. With trademark humour, he reflects on the influence of Robert Cox and historical materialism, the critical need to challenge “relentless presentism” in global governance research, and the dual role of international institutions – as both market-builders for industrial capitalism and platforms for political resistance. We close by reflecting on a world grappling with existential threats and Craig’s salutary reminder that the task ahead is not just to critique existing governance but to fundamentally rethink and remake it.
Craig Murphy is the Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Wellesley College. A leading scholar of global governance, he has served as President of the International Studies Association (2000-2001) and co-editor of the journal Global Governance.
Craig Murphy’s Wellesley profile can be found here: https://www1.wellesley.edu/politicalscience/faculty/murphy
We discussed:
• ‘Every Just Peace is Something New: Translating a Difficult Finding from the Social Sciences to the Humanities and Back’, unpublished manuscript.
• International Organization and Industrial Change: Global Governance since 1850 (Oxford, 1994).
• ‘Global Governance Over the Long Haul’, International Studies Quarterly (2014).
• ‘Global governance: poorly done and poorly understood’, International Affairs (2000).
Global Governance Futures: Imperfect Utopias or Bust
In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Simon Dalby, one of the most original thinkers in critical geopolitics and environmental security. His scholarship has fundamentally reshaped how we understand the relationship between ecology, violence, and global governance – pioneering the concept of political geoecology and, more recently, probing the incendiary entanglements of fossil fuels, statecraft, and planetary breakdown.
We explore Simon’s intellectual journey, from early work on geopolitics and discourses of security, to his provocative interventions on anthropogenic fire and the combustible politics of the climate crisis, captured in his recent book Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate-Disrupted World.
With characteristic clarity and urgency, Simon unpacks the dangerous inertia of existing institutions and the need to stop “governing as if the Earth were not burning.” We discuss the challenge of reimagining sovereignty, security, and governance in the context of Earth system disruption – and why a politics of planetary responsibility must begin with confronting fossil modernity head-on.
Simon Dalby is Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a former co-editor of the journal Geopolitics and author of multiple influential books on climate, war, and the changing foundations of global order.
Simon’s profile can be found here: https://balsillieschool.ca/people/simon-dalby/
We discussed:
• Pyromania: Fire and Geopolitics in a Climate Disrupted World (2024): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/pyromania/9781788216517/
• Review of Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises by J. Blake & N. Gilman (2024): https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXVI-24.pdf
• Firepower, Climate and the Dilemma of Security, RUSI Commentary, May 2022: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/firepower-climate-and-dilemmas-security
• Rethinking Environmental Security (2022): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/rethinking-environmental-security-9781800375840.html
