Why theorize during a climate crisis?

Abstract

Why be a political theorist in times of the climate and biodiversity crisis? While theorists have long contributed to discussions about climate justice, in this talk I suggest that the "anthropocene" (or arguably, "capitalocene") raises far more fundamental questions about how to understand the political, social, and economic realms and their interrelations. Some of the most basic assumptions about how these realms are organized need to be challenged, and this requires theory. To do so, political theory benefits from crossing three boundaries: the boundary between political theory and other social scientific disciplines, the boundary between Western and other traditions, and the boundary between the academic world and broader public discourses. I will exemplify this approach by discussing some questions about value creation in the economic realm and who has the political right to decide about it. I argue that to turn our societies onto a sustainable path requires a thorough-going democratization – of the economy, but also of democracy as it currently exists as a political system – , and discuss the role that political theorists can play in this project.