Mobilizing Hope. Climate activism, solidarity and the dangers of plutocracy and pessimism

Lecture by
Prof. Dr. Darrel Moellendorf (Goethe University, Normative Orders)

Welcome from
Prof. Franziska Nori, Director Frankfurter Kunstverein
Rebecca Caroline Schmidt, Managing Director, Research Center Normative Orders, Goethe University Frankfurt

People and politicians in all countries are increasingly aware of the immediate and long-term dangers of climate change. And yet the consumption of fossil fuels is still increasing rapidly and even continues to be subsidized. The impact on humans, non-human life forms and natural cycles has reached a global dimension. The Global South and poorer sections of the population around the world are particularly affected. Their development prospects are increasingly at risk and there is a threat of impoverishment and climate-induced migration. Climate change has thus become a major factor in social injustice. Industrialized countries are slow to respond to the challenges of climate change and the need for transformation, which can also be attributed to the massive influence of the international fossil fuel industry. Their lobbying has a distorting effect on democratic decision-making processes and freedom of negotiation in international forums. The great hope is that global climate activism will be able to exert a counter-influence and act not only in the name of climate justice, but also for democracy.

Darrel Moellendorf is an American environmental and political philosopher. He is Professor of International Political Theory at the Institute for Political Science, Professor of Philosophy and PI at the Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University Frankfurt. He is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His publications include: Cosmopolitan Justice 2002; Global Inequality Matters 2009; The Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change: Values, Poverty, and Policy 2014, and Mobilizing Hope: Climate Change and Global Poverty 2022.

The entrance fee is 5 €. Registration is not necessary.

The event takes place in cooperation between the Research Center Normative Orders of the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurter Kunstverein and is part of the accompanying program to the exhibition Bending the Curve – Knowledge, Action, [Care] for Biodiversity.