Hi Paul
As Matt points out, you are putting your finger on a raw teaching nerve - how to strike the right balance between facing the evidence and not leaving our students completely in despair (having just sent off a class of 185 students, it's a particularly pressing concern...) So my own two pence, if its of any help. I find that the only way of getting around the straight 'failure' perspective has been to broaden and shift the the question, beyond 'governance' alone - in order to move towards the 'diagnosis' . Thus I frame my entire course, as what I call 'The Encounter with the Natural Limits'. That means 1) thematizing upfront the recognition that yes, we are in a deep crisis; 2) balancing that with emphasising that a crisis is also an opportunity to leave no stone unturned, in order to diagnose what went wrong. Use the crisis, in other words, to equip ourselves with the tools to be reflexive, not just about governance, but about the broader practices that underpin them. Teaching a GEP course this way is a lot of work because it takes you far and wide out of governance/IR, and into political theory/philosophy, public policy, history, geography - and pretty much into every other discipline under the sun; which can of course be quite messy. But I find that that can be contained by a strong narrative line, constantly reiterated. More importantly, I find that it's a good way to empower students with the self-reflective theoretical tools that they can then use to go and change failed governance - which is after all what we are here for, as teachers. And that empowerment is at least a small antidote against the pessimism.... Cheers Charlotte Dr Charlotte Epstein Senior Lecturer Department of Government and International Relations School of Social and Political Sciences The University of Sydney Room 287 | Merewether Building (HO4) NSW 2006| Australia P 61 2 9351 2082 F 61 2 9351 3624 e [email protected] | w http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/government/staff/charlotte_epstein.h tm From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of HARRIS, Paul Gordon Sent: Tuesday, 3 November 2009 1:05 PM To: GEP List Subject: Rethinking global climate governance Dear GEP Colleagues, I am trying to rethink global environmental governance, and to encourage my students to do likewise, especially in the context of climate change. While I know that some of you won't agree, it's my feeling the practice of global environmental governance surrounding climate change has been a failure. This is not to discount positive developments and steps forward, but is (by my estimation) a fact revealed by warnings of natural scientists and apparently by ongoing environmental changes. Thanks to hard work by many governments and nongovernmental actors, etc., things won't be as bad as they might have been. But I think they'll be very bad nevertheless, especially for the world's poor. Assuming I am correct (even if you don't agree), do you have ideas for how we might rethink global governance and climate change, or conceive of global governance in this context in very new ways? What are you saying to your students in this regard? What do you say when they ask for alternatives to the incrementalism of climate change diplomacy? Are their practical alternatives, or desirable ones that may appear to be impractical today? Many thanks for your ideas. All best, Paul -- P.G. Harris Department of Social Sciences Hong Kong Institute of Education 10 Lo Ping Road Tai Po, HONG KONG General Office Tel.: +852 2948 7707 Direct Tel.: +852 2948 6763 Fax: +852 2948 8047 Email: pharris @ ied.edu.hk http://www.ied.edu.hk/ssc/en/index.htm
