Climate Emotions and Environmental Activism
\n17 June 2026\, University College Dublin
\nInvited Speakers:
\nJakob Huber (Freie Universitä\;t Berlin)
\nMary E. Witlacil (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology)
\nThe world has concluded the third consecutive year in which the 1.5 degrees warming target was exceeded\, and catastrophic storms and floods killing thousands in South East Asia. At the same time\, the climate and environmental crisis has moved to the background of global attention\, and the global climate movement has not managed to maintain or restore the global attention needed to pressure governments and corporation for change. Many within the climate movement feel overwhelmed with emotional exhaustion and tactical disorientation\, and the need to figure out what is to be done next.
\nIn this moment\, philosophy can play a critical role in examining the emotional life of activists within the struggle against climate and environmental breakdown\, what role emotions play within a global social movement\, and how emotions inform\, shape and motivate the activism pushing for change. Recently\, philosophers have conducted extensive surveys of climate emotions and their function: Thresher (2025) advocates for eco-anger as a force for change\, Altenger &\; Menges (2025) argue that despair about climate change can have valuable signalling functions\, and Velasco &\; Richardson (2026) explore ecological grief as a shared group-based emotion. This workshop seeks to continue the conversation\, and examine climate emotions specifically in their role for climate and environmental activism.
\nWe seek up to four contributions for the workshop on climate emotions and environmental activism. Topics include but are not limited to:
\nHope and despair and their role in the climate movement: what is their value\, their function and risks? What forms can environmental hope and despair take?
\nHow do climate emotions like anger\, grief\, guilt or anxiety shape environmental activism? What functions do they fulfil\, and what risks do they pose to activists?
\nWhat can we learn from philosophical optimism in the face of climate breakdown? Is optimism necessary to sustain environmental activism? Is pessimism more justified?
\nHow are climate emotions such as anger expressed in different protest forms (e.g. civil disobedience or uncivil disobedience)? What protest form is best to anchor climate emotions in public discourse? What is the value of emotional expression in public discourse?
\nHow do climate emotions shape the agential identity of climate activists? Are escalating means of climate activism (e.g. sabotage or violence) informed or shaped by climate emotions\, or vice versa?
\nWhat can philosophy learn from social movement studies on the function of climate emotions?
\nWhat role do emotions play in other political struggles\, and what can we draw from these lessons for the climate movement?
\nPlease prepare anonymised abstracts of max. 1000 Words (excluding bibliography)\, to be submitted to quan.nguyen@ucd.ie. The deadline for submissions is 15 \;March. Submissions from graduate students and early career researchers are especially encouraged &ndash\; additional funding is being sought to cover some accommodation costs for graduate and early career participants. Accepted papers will be notified by end of March at the latest.
\nThe one-day workshop on 17 June will be followed by a book workshop on 18 \;June\, on my book manuscript titled &ldquo\;It&rsquo\;s Okay to Despair about Climate Change &ndash\; Militant Pessimism in the face of Climate Breakdown&rdquo\;. Participants are not required to\, but are warmly invited to attend.
ORGANIZER;CN="Anh-Quân Nguyen": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260407T095603Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Dublin:20260623T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Dublin:20260624T170000 SUMMARY:Prejudice in Hume and His Contemporaries UID:20260408T063000Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-f5d4878dd-r5qzs TZID:Europe/Dublin LOCATION:Newman Building\, Dublin\, Ireland DESCRIPTION:Prejudice in Hume and His Contemporaries University College Dublin\, 23-24 June 2026
Confirmed speakers:
\nAmy Schmitter (University of Alberta)
\nJacqueline Taylor (University of San Francisco)
\nRoss Carroll (Dublin City University)
\nElena Gordon (University College Dublin)
\nDescription: The early modern concept of prejudice is currently receiving renewed attention along two dimensions. First\, rising interest in early modern social and non-ideal epistemology has turned to theories of prejudice for explanations of group irrationality and group ignorance and\, more generally\, for early modern vice epistemologies. Second\, theories of prejudice are interesting for how they intersect with emerging theories of social\, racial\, gender and national identity. Despite the centrality of prejudice to long-established narratives about the Enlightenment and the rise of the &lsquo\;new science&rsquo\;\, these &lsquo\;social&rsquo\; aspects of the concept remain understudied. \;
David Hume's views on prejudice strikingly express these social dimensions. \;His central discussion of prejudice (Treatise 1.3.13) connects it to unreflective generalizations of humans based on perceived group membership. He couples this discussion with sophisticated socio-constructivist accounts of many kinds of social identity\, that are at the same time limited by objectionable sexist and racist beliefs. \;
This conference aims to investigate Hume&rsquo\;s theory of prejudice along the lines indicated above\, but it will also look at his possible inspirations and at his own influence on later authors in the Scottish Enlightenment and beyond. Thus\, spreading outward from Hume\, the conference aims to produce a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of the social aspects of prejudice in the broad context in which he was writing.
Possible topics: Possible questions and topics can include\, but are not limited to:
The event is generously supported by the British Society for the History of Philosophy\, the Mind Association\, \;Taighde É\;ireann - Research Ireland\, and the \;UCD School of Philosophy. \;It is organised as part of the project 'Hume and the Prejudiced Self'\, funded by Taighde É\;ireann - Research Ireland (grant number GOIPD/2025/1772).
ORGANIZER;CN=Ruben Noorloos: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR