This episode is the audio version of a video essay on the state of nature by Dr Christopher Watkin. You can find the video on social contract research network YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw).

The essay discusses eight ways in which the state of nature idea shapes our thinking and outlook today: who we think we are, how we decide shat is good, how we treat other cultures, nations, and the natural world, how we think we can change society, how we run the economy, and how we understand the meaning of life.

The first voice you hear is from a 1920s newsreel on research undertaken into aboriginal groups in Australia.

This video essay is part of an Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism".

The Social Contract Research Podcast is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network

SCRN YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw