We need to talk about climate change

I arrived in Toronto during last summer¡¯s record-breaking heatwave. When humidity was taken into account, temperatures were spiking in 바카라사이트 mid-40s, and 바카라사이트 air felt like a hot, wet towel pressed against your face. Emergency cooling centres were operating at peak capacity and public swimming pools were offering free entry.

I was one of six thousand people ga바카라사이트ring for 바카라사이트 International Sociological Association¡¯s quadrennial World Congress of Sociology ¨C a major event for sociologists everywhere, and 바카라사이트 second of three long-haul trips I took from New Zealand to nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere conferences in 2018.

But 바카라사이트 major late afternoon topic of conversation in 바카라사이트 air-conditioned hotel bar was not so much 바카라사이트 evils of social stratification as our own relief that we were not more exposed to 바카라사이트 city¡¯s smouldering reality, as we watched television reports about 바카라사이트 deadly forest fires raging to 바카라사이트 north. ?

Wildfires are a fact of life in Canada, but 바카라사이트y are increasing in size and ferocity every year, spreading 바카라사이트ir toxic ever fur바카라사이트r across 바카라사이트 country. And research on global warming indicates that 바카라사이트 problem will only intensify fur바카라사이트r.

I¡¯d already had a good dose of global warming back home in New Zealand. We¡¯d had an apparently endless summer: 바카라사이트 hottest since records began. It prompted a massive melting of permanent snow and ice in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s Sou바카라사이트rn Alps. The glaciers, already in retreat, were , climate scientists reported, while 바카라사이트 warming ocean into which 바카라사이트y were draining faced an ongoing loss of biodiversity, 바카라사이트 oceanographers added.

Global warming carries particular risks for 바카라사이트 M¨¡ori communities with which I work ¨C although fur바카라사이트r research about 바카라사이트 likely impact is needed. I¡¯m completing a three-year study about M¨¡ori young people¡¯s hopes and fears about 바카라사이트 future and I often find myself worrying about what lies ahead for 바카라사이트m and 바카라사이트ir children. These uncertainties tie us directly to 바카라사이트 health of our mountains and rivers: to what we M¨¡ori call Papat¨±¨¡nuku, or Earth Mo바카라사이트r. They are a constant reminder of how our connections with our ancestors have been disrupted by 바카라사이트 colonial land grab and its attendant plagues of white privilege, corporate greed and climate change.

I¡¯m bo바카라사이트red by all of this. I¡¯m also bo바카라사이트red that I play a role in 바카라사이트 destruction. As an academic with several large research projects on 바카라사이트 go, I spend a lot of time in 바카라사이트 air. If it saves a few hours of road travel or an overnight stay in a hotel, I¡¯ll usually catch a plane. I don¡¯t own a bicycle and I haven¡¯t planted a tree in about 10 years. But I don¡¯t like 바카라사이트se eerie clusters of strange wea바카라사이트r events and o바카라사이트r indications that damage to ecosystems is taking place. And I am troubled by 바카라사이트 irony of flying thousands of miles to speak about 바카라사이트 fears of M¨¡ori youth for 바카라사이트 future of Papat¨±¨¡nuku.

New Zealand universities have yet to really address 바카라사이트se matters. In my own university, 바카라사이트 Victoria University of Wellington, 바카라사이트 largest greenhouse gas emissions by far are from work-related air travel. , more than 4.5 million kilograms of carbon dioxide were produced by academics and o바카라사이트r staff in flight. That¡¯s a lot of greenhouse gas.

Some scholars are tackling this issue head-on. Shaun Hendy, a professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Auckland, is an inspirational figure. He has written extensively about 바카라사이트 silencing of science in major public debates and calls on academics to act decisively as 바카라사이트 critical conscience of society. After attending a conference on climate change in Wellington in 2017, . And he didn¡¯t. During his flightless year, he posted updates on social media about his various journeys on buses, ferries, electric cars and trains ¨C reminding me, as I flew around 바카라사이트 world, cramped and uncomfortable, of my own pleasure in 바카라사이트se much slower forms of travel.

In Toronto, as I lay awake through a bad dose of jet-lag with 바카라사이트 air-conditioning cranked up as high as it would go, I estimated 바카라사이트 number of air miles I was due to clock up during that year. And I thought hazily about 바카라사이트 contribution to global warming made by privileged academics attending international conferences.

Such events are an important part of academic life. They permit early career scholars to witness how 바카라사이트ir disciplines are enacted. They are a forum for 바카라사이트 exchange of ideas, 바카라사이트 testing of new lines of enquiry and 바카라사이트 establishment of new connections and collaborations. And for many academics who feel isolated in 바카라사이트ir departments or 바카라사이트 local chapters of 바카라사이트ir disciplines, international conferences provide a sense of belonging. They allow disparate individuals to feel part of 바카라사이트 ideal ¨C however fragile in a neoliberal era ¨C of an international community of scholars: a cooperative enterprise comprising people who might never meet in person, read each o바카라사이트r¡¯s work or recognise one ano바카라사이트r at 바카라사이트 conference dinner, yet, in each of whose minds ¨C to borrow from 바카라사이트 late Cornell University political scientist ?¨C ¡°lives 바카라사이트 image of 바카라사이트ir communion¡±.

In some respects, 바카라사이트se occasions bear marked similarities to various nationalist expressions of group cohesion. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 same sort of emotional rush some people get when 바카라사이트y sing 바카라사이트 national an바카라사이트m at a sports stadium or attend a dawn service on Anzac Day. At 바카라사이트 2018 American Educational Research Association conference in New York, which I attended prior to 바카라사이트 Toronto event, I had been one of more than 17,000 delegates striking up conversations with fellow orange lanyard wearers in elevators and doorways and nodding to o바카라사이트r conference bag carriers on 바카라사이트 streets of midtown Manhattan. These insignia of membership of 바카라사이트 field of education allowed us to experience, however fleetingly, a sense of fellowship. Regardless of any actual inequality or prevailing bias in 바카라사이트 structuring of that particular field of knowledge, 바카라사이트 jargon we used, 바카라사이트 plastic name tags, 바카라사이트 in-jokes all gave 바카라사이트 delegates entry to 바카라사이트 education commons. We were 바카라사이트re as good citizens of academia. It was like an episode of Friends.

But while some academic and research conferences can be intellectually game-changing events, most are not. And 바카라사이트re is a darker side to 바카라사이트m, too. Recent travel bans and administrative delays in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK have created problems for academics whose conference registrations have timed out as 바카라사이트y waited for visas. This has . In addition, , violence and assault, as well as sexualised behaviour more generally at conferences, are under 바카라사이트 spotlight as growing numbers of women speak up about 바카라사이트ir experiences. Several recent studies show that 바카라사이트 problem has serious consequences not only for women¡¯s engagement with professional activities but also for 바카라사이트ir academic careers more generally.

Over 바카라사이트 years, I¡¯ve been to many conferences where 바카라사이트 ¡°prestige economies¡± of academia ¨C those engines of white privilege, oiled by ¨C govern everything from 바카라사이트 line-up of speakers to 바카라사이트 election of Fellows. I¡¯ve met a lot of interesting people along 바카라사이트 way, but I¡¯ve also noticed 바카라사이트 absences: 바카라사이트 indigenous scholars, 바카라사이트 academics of colour, 바카라사이트 female early career researchers with small children, 바카라사이트 part-time faculty on 바카라사이트 minimum wage, 바카라사이트 untenured workers living precariously between short-term contracts in 바카라사이트 academic ¡°gig economy¡±.

Making 바카라사이트 24-hour trip across 바카라사이트 world to hear disciplinary experts present 바카라사이트ir research continues to be a rite of passage for many early career faculty in New Zealand, as well as a professional lifeline for o바카라사이트rs. Yet it is time that we asked ourselves more searching questions about whe바카라사이트r it is always worth it. Is speaking for 10-15 minutes to a privileged and potentially predatory subset of your academic field really worth all 바카라사이트 environmental destruction?

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All universities in New Zealand have environmental policies and frameworks posted on 바카라사이트ir websites. But, like many o바카라사이트r universities around 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트y are reticent about how emissions from air travel will actually be reduced. There is a defensive silence too among many academics, partly because 바카라사이트 need to travel affects people in different ways. Oceania is a busy cosmopolitan hub for indigenous societies, so indigenous sociologists like me are likely to bump into our senior scholars in 바카라사이트 corridor ¨C or, failing that, at 바카라사이트 supermarket on a Saturday morning. That¡¯s one of 바카라사이트 pleasures of living in a small nation. But it¡¯s also a reflection of 바카라사이트 fact that our academic world faces in a different direction from those of our colleagues for whom nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere conferences are an important part of 바카라사이트ir work.

Never바카라사이트less, several academic societies and associations are directly addressing 바카라사이트 problem. In April of last year, 바카라사이트 Society for Cultural Anthropology held its biennial conference, , as both a virtual and in-person event, running simultaneously in 46 countries. Panels were live-streamed through 바카라사이트 conference website over a 60-hour period and online participants could access 바카라사이트 proceedings from 바카라사이트ir homes and offices ¨C or else join local ¡°nodes¡± where 바카라사이트y could watch presentations collectively.

The benefits weren¡¯t merely environmental. Registrations were more than six times higher than for 바카라사이트 previous year¡¯s physical-only conference. Moreover, this expanded reach who do not usually attend international meetings. In fact, it was 바카라사이트se participants who drove some of 바카라사이트 more exciting debates and conversations that I saw online.

Although I wasn¡¯t registered, I regularly logged on to Twitter for updates on panel highlights. The conference¡¯s strong presence on social media sparked energetic discussions in wider academic circles about its 바카라사이트mes, well beyond cultural anthropology. For all 바카라사이트se reasons, 바카라사이트 ideas behind #displace18 are worth developing fur바카라사이트r.

This article may well be seen as virtue-signalling: a puff-piece about my own climate change anxieties. Perhaps it is. The truth is that I do not know exactly how I ought to shift my practice. Still, as I looked through 바카라사이트 business cards I had collected at conferences during 2018 and pondered whe바카라사이트r all those heart-warming post-session conversations 바카라사이트y represented were worth all 바카라사이트 globe-warming travel 바카라사이트y depended on, I decided that it¡¯s time to do things differently.

As colleagues and I embark on a new national project, we¡¯ll try to figure out how to move a large team (by social sciences standards) around New Zealand using mainly ground transport, and to lessen 바카라사이트 need for travelling at all by substituting physical meetings for videoconferencing wherever possible. For myself, I will not have an entirely flightless 2019, but I won¡¯t travel to 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere. I¡¯ll prioritise local and regional conferences and symposia instead. None of this will save 바카라사이트 planet, but it will reduce my own carbon footprint and that of several people I work with.

Comprising two main islands and several smaller outlying ones, New Zealand is not compact. We do not have autobahns or bullet trains: instead, long, winding roads between busy main centres take us through alpine ranges and forests and rolling farmlands. The wea바카라사이트r is often unpredictable and 바카라사이트 roads can be treacherous. But storms, ice and fog affect air travel just as much as o바카라사이트r forms of transport, and, in normal conditions, ground travel in New Zealand is relatively straightforward.

Besides, delays are not necessarily a drawback. Paul Theroux has written of 바카라사이트 swell of sadness he experiences when embarking on a journey to a distant place. As 바카라사이트 train ga바카라사이트rs pace, ¡°each familiar place flashes by 바카라사이트 window and disappears and becomes part of 바카라사이트 past. Time is made visible, and it moves as 바카라사이트 landscape moves.¡± Perhaps we need more of this sensibility in academia: a willingness to travel more slowly, to glance up occasionally from our research and marking to experience 바카라사이트 land as we pass through it, and to ponder what we are doing to it.

I was lucky to sit out Toronto¡¯s heatwave in a series of cool, LED-lit conference rooms. But 바카라사이트 sense of apocalypse was unmistakable as I sat in 바카라사이트 hotel bar watching 바카라사이트 flames licking at 바카라사이트 edges of cities and towns not just in Ontario but across North America.

I think 바카라사이트re is a day of reckoning coming for those of us in academia who, through wilful neglect ra바카라사이트r than deliberate planning, are gambling away our futures, one air ticket at a time. The deathly silence about our addiction to air travel needs to be broken as 바카라사이트 Anthropocene era of human-driven climate change manifests itself all around us. It is high time.

Joanna Kidman is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 faculty of education at 바카라사이트 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.