Alternative ecological futures: Art, climate change and the radical imagination

This roundtable brings together four researchers and their perspectives to a conversation about the role of art and creativity in imagining alternative ecological futures.

Building on the recent book by Carl Death, African Climate Futures, this roundtable will discuss questions including: Is art a distraction given the urgency of the climate crisis? What are the ideological functions of art and popular culture in the contemporary moment? Whose art is made visible and whose art is marginalised or hidden? Is it still true, as Amitav Ghosh (2016) warned, that “most forms of art and literature” are part of “modes of concealment that prevented people from recognising the realities of their plight”? Is the role of artists to better communicate future climate scenarios? What can critical perspectives on “the radical imagination” contribute to environmental politics? How can art and aesthetic theories and methods – across different forms including music, literature, film and theatre – help us teach and research climate politics? In what ways can stories help us to understand different perspectives on the possible futures of global politics?

Chair:

• Hannah Hughes (Aberystwyth University)

Speakers:

• Carl Death (University of Manchester)

• Audra Mitchell (Balsillie School of International Affairs)

• Farai Chipato (University of Glasgow)

• Cara Berger (University of Manchester).

Registration will close two hours before the begins