In Praise of Boredom
A lecture at the “Idle Hours” exhibition National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 5 February 2010 Clive Hamilton I am grateful to the National Portrait Gallery for inviting me to give this talk and particularly to Sarah Engledow for curating this subtle and arresting exhibition. It occurred to me too late that with my choice of title, […]
Requiem for a Species Promo
Psychological Adaptation to the Threats and Stresses of a Four Degree World
Extensive social scientific research into human reactions to threats provides some insights into the psychological strategies humans are likely to adopt in response to the stresses of living in a hotter world. These “coping strategies” are designed to defend against or manage the unpleasant emotions associated with “waking up” to the dangers of a warming […]
The Rebirth of Nature and the Climate Crisis
The Rebirth of Nature and the Climate Crisis A Sydney Ideas Lecture University of Sydney, 7th July 2009 Clive Hamilton Introduction1 The failure of humanity to respond to the threat of global warming with anything like the urgency demanded by climate science is deeply puzzling. Undoubtedly, our preoccupation with economic growth, and the way it […]
Nordhaus’s Carbon Tax: An Excuse to Do Nothing?
Yale economist William Nordhaus is an influential voice in the US climate policy debate. Although he writes that global warming is a serious problem, the whole tenor of his analysis is to urge caution and delay. His carbon tax proposal contravenes globally agreed principles and plays into the hands of those opposed to urgent action […]
The Time for Radical Activism
Speech at the Climate Action Summit Australian National University, 31 January 2009 Clive Hamilton It seems a long time ago that our new Prime Minister, the man who would sweep away 11 years of Howard Government denialism, went to Bali and declared to the world: Australia now stands ready to assume its responsibility … Climate […]
Climate Change and Its Implications for Australia
Annual University Lecture at the Australian Defence Force Academy 10 September 2008 Clive Hamilton1 In 1956 a woman in Minneapolis began to receive communications from an extra-terrestrial being named Sananda. Marion Keech heard that a great flood would cleanse the world of earthlings at mid-night on 21 December. Only those who believed in Sananda […]
Reclaiming morality from conservative dogma and post-modern indifference
Lecture in the Sydney Ideas series, University of Sydney, 12 August 2008 Clive Hamilton In the preface to The Freedom Paradox I say that I wrote the book to answer the question of why it is that, despite the wealth and freedom now enjoyed by most citizens of rich countries, we do not appear […]
Defending the Last Taboo
A contribution to the Art Censorship: the bigger picture forum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 12 June 2008 Clive Hamilton When I looked at the twenty or so Bill Henson photos on the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website just hours before they were taken down I could see immediately that they were not pornographic. They struck […]
Growth fetishism and public policy
A speech to senior executives of the Australian Public Service, organized by the Public Service Commission The Boat House, Canberra, 29 April 2008 Clive Hamilton1 In an oft-quoted speech Robert F. Kennedy said that GNP “measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to […]