Pub Lecture – ‘Should Scholars Protest the Climate Crisis?’

For this month’s Pub Lecture, Dr. Fossen will discuss the role of academics in addressing the climate and ecological crisis. Both common sense and professional norms often suggest that academics should remain impartial informers, focusing on research and avoiding political activism. However, the urgency of the climate crisis, coupled with the deliberate obstruction of scientific findings by vested interests, challenges this traditional view.

Dr. Fossen argues that academics, not just as citizens but as members of the academic community, have a responsibility to engage in climate activism, including protest and civil disobedience. He will explore how this responsibility stems from the academic community’s unique role in revealing the climate problem and the subsequent efforts to undermine its warnings. After motivating this view, he addresses common objections, such as concerns about democratic legitimacy and academic integrity.

We can’t wait to see you there on Wednesday, the 19th of March at Café de Vergulde Kruik!