The Sustainability Agenda

In this fascinating interview, Professor Wendy Brown analyses the impact of neoliberal ideas on our current political economic moment, revealing how deeply entrenched neoliberalism is in our lives, that neoliberalism has not, as many believe, gone away. Wendy’s analysis of neoliberalism extends beyond the economics of privatisation and deregulation-arguing that we have all become in some sense “homo economicus.” Wendy shows how this logic extends to the ways in which we conceptualise and try to solve our environmental problems, highlighting some of the arguments at the heart of the recent Dasgupta report: The Economics of Biodiversity.

Wendy Brown is an American political theorist. She’s Class of 1936 First professor of Political Science and a core faculty member in the Program for critical theory at The University of California at Berkeley. Wendy lectures around the world and has held numerous visiting and honorary positions, including at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, the Goethe University in Frankfurt. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has received many awards.  Wendy's recent work focuses on neoliberalism and she is the author of numerous books including most recently Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution and In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of AntiDemocratic politics in the West.

In this episode, we welcome veteran investor Kevin Starr to the podcast to discuss the work of the Mulago Foundation, which funds high-impact organizations working on alleviating poverty. Kevin explains how Mulago’s focus has inevitably extended over time to take into account climate and the environment--the focus of Mulago's Henry Arnhold Fellows Program. Kevin’s main focus at Mulago is on lasting change at scale and he explains how he thinks about scaling-- and the importance of structuring investments to make sure that profit and impact are aligned.  In this wide ranging, Kevin shares his perspective on the state of social entrepreneurship today, the reality of impact investment, and his evolving thoughts on measuring impact. 

Kevin is the founder of the Mulago Foundation, which funds early stage social entrepreneurs devoted to maximum impact at scale in developing countries. Kevin set up the Reiner Arnhold Fellows Program in 2003 to apply Mulago’s principles and tools to help social entrepreneurs turn good ideas into lasting change at scale-- and in 2016, the Henry Arnhold Fellows Program to add a focus on environmental solutions.  Kevin was the primary instigator of Big Bang Philanthropy, a group of funders that work together to direct more money to those best at fighting poverty. This is an edited version of an interview from the Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs podcast.

In this interview, Joanna Pocock talks about her recent book Surrender, a compelling, moving, and eye-opening exploration of the outsider eco-cultures blossoming in the new American West in an era of increasing climatic disruption, rising sea levels, animal extinctions, melting glaciers, and catastrophic wildfires. Joanna talks about the wide range of vibrant environmental movements that have taken root in response to the climate crisis – scavenger, rewilding, ecosexual--and explores the roots of these myriad cultures-in what is also a deeply moving and personal testimony to a rapidly changing world with an uncertain future.

Joanna Pocock is an Irish-Canadian writer currently living in London. Her work of creative non-fiction, Surrender, exploring the changing landscape of the American West, won the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize in 2018 and the Arts Foundation environmental writing award in 2020. Her writing has notably appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation and on the Dark Mountain blog.

In this fascinating interview, Dr. Jeffrey Kiehl brings to bear two very different ways of thinking about climate change: the scientific and the psychological—and his journey as an experienced climate scientist to bring these different perspectives together. Jeffrey explains the essential features of a depth psychological perspective, why he believes this is essential today, helping us understand why we have failed to take action on climate change--and the roots of climate denial. Jeffrey identifies the shortcomings of taking a purely rational approach to climate change, why it is important to understand ways of thinking that are not purely rational, that are imagistic—based on a deeper understanding of the unconscious. He also talks about the emerging field of eco-psychology, an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology. 

Dr. Jeffrey Kiehl is a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States, and an adjunct professor at UC Santa Cruz, and he has carried out research on climate change for some 40 years. Jeffrey is also a Jungian analyst and his main interests today are in the areas of eco-psychology, a field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability. Jeffrey is the author of the book Facing climate change: an integrative path to the future, which provides a Jungian perspective on climate change.

In this thought provoking and spirited interview, Rupert Read shares lessons and insights from his decades long experience as an activist.  Rupert believes that as a society we are facing a  “long emergency” with our entire civilisation at risk—and that nothing less than a complete transformation of our way of life will be necessary to deal with our environmental predicament. He discusses the vital role that Extinction Rebellion is playing in helping to create awareness and change and the importance of citizens assemblies and other bottom up approaches to change. At the heart of his passionate new book, Parents for a Future, Rupert argues that by caring for our own children, we are committed to caring for the whole of human future, and in turn, caring for the future of the natural world. A fascinating interview—and a strongly argued plea for dramatic action and change.

Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, an author, a blogger, and a climate and environmental campaigner, including his work as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. He has written over a dozen books, most recently Parents for A Future. He has also been national parliamentary candidate, European parliamentary candidate and councillor for the Green Party of England and Wales and chaired the ecological think tank Green House. He is a strong advocate for positive, radical change to address the climate emergency, and has argued for the environment extensively in the media, including writings in the Guardian, The Independent and The Ecologist and frequent guest appearances on the radio.

Dale discusses his recent thinking on the metaphysical challenges of climate change --the way a rapidly changing world unmoored from the traditional sources of meaning in our lives. He also explores the way that climate change interacts with our political institutions, with their inherent short-termism--and distinguishes between what he sees as the broad values of capitalism, when he was growing up, and what he calls today’s crony capitalism. At the heart of this discussion, Dale highlights the fundamental challenges that any person faces in life today, wherever they live, are: how should I live? How do I how do I go forward?

In this in-depth interview, Johan Frijns discusses the vital work that BankTrack does on banks and the activities they finance, tracking the involvement of banks in financing business activities with a negative impact on people and planet, so as to make information on this finance widely available in the public domain. Johan discusses some of the powerful techniques that BankTrack uses to bring about ambitious and effective sustainability commitments from banks, highlighting some recent success stories.

Johan believes that there has been tremendous change in how banks think about the impact of their business on the environment in the last twenty years —but believes there is so much more to do, such as urgently stopping banks from financing the coal, oil and gas companies that are fuelling the climate crisis. Bank investment policies and climate commitments are rapidly evolving, but banks continue to pour hundreds of billions per year into the fossil fuel industry. A fascinating insight into the vital work that this small organisation is doing in a crucial but often overlooked area of finance.

John Clark is Professor Emeritus at Loyola University, and director of La Terre Institute for Community and Ecology, and author. his latest book is Between Earth and Empire: From the Necrocene to the Beloved Community. In this wide-ranging and hard-hitting discussion, John analyses the roots of the environmental plight we are facing— what he calls the Necrocene- a period of mass extinction and reversal. He explores the roots of the problems through Murray Bookchin’s Social Ecology, and he considers the revitalising potential of communities to fuel creativity and regeneration-a recurring theme throughout this discussion -as he calls out for a  revolutionary communitarian approach to the problems we are facing. John also discusses what we can learn from Buddhist teachings on impermanence, and also highlights some lessons from indigenous communities in how we relate to nature. 

Tim Lenton is Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter.  He has had a lifelong interest in the Gaia Hypothesis and much of his recent work has been building on the work of James Lovelock, highlighting mechanisms by which the Earth system has been stabilised by negative feedbacks throughout Earth history.  In this interview, Tim discusses his work with Bruno Latour, exploring how humans could add some level of self-awareness to Earth's self-regulation.

The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) works on the ecological restoration and conservation of land and water resources in ecologically fragile, degraded regions of India, primarily through the collective efforts of village communities.  FES is currently working with more than 20,000 village communities on more than 6 s million acres of common lands across 10 states of India. 

Jagdeesh has overseen the growth of FES over 20 years--his work has been widely recognized and he has received the Times of India Social Impact award, the Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom Award on Commons, UN’s Land for Life award, and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. 

In this inspiring episode, Jagdeesh discusses FES' vital ecological restoration and conservation work in land and water resources in ecologically fragile, degraded regions of India, highlighting the distinctive way FES works with local communities, and its philosophy and approach to restoration. He also looks forward to his new role as Curator of the Promise of Commons Initiative in India. This is interview was undertaken jointly with Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs podcast.