{"id":10021,"date":"2023-09-13T11:13:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T10:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/cemore\/?post_type=mec-events&p=10021"},"modified":"2023-10-20T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T12:50:19","slug":"2023-annual-john-urry-memorial-lecture-dr-alice-mah","status":"publish","type":"mec-events","link":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/cemore\/events\/2023-annual-john-urry-memorial-lecture-dr-alice-mah\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Annual John Urry Memorial Lecture: Prof. Alice Mah"},"content":{"rendered":"
Professor Alice Mah\u00a0is Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies at the University of Glasgow. She is author of Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation<\/em> (2023), Toxic Truths: Environmental Justice and Citizen Science in a Post-Truth Age\u00a0<\/i>(with Thom Davies, 2020), Port Cities and Global Legacies<\/i>\u00a0(2014) and Industrial Ruination, Community, and Place\u00a0<\/i>(2012).\u00a0Her research has been awarded the Leverhulme Prize in Sociology, the SAGE Prize for Innovation and\/or Excellence, and the British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize.<\/p>\n In her talk ‘Towards Alternative Socio-Ecological Futures<\/strong>‘, Professor Alice Mah will be sharing her recent research:<\/p>\n In the context of ecological crisis, this lecture argues that social scientific research on alternative socio-ecological futures is important for addressing conflicts over the stakes of green transformations, particularly for moving beyond critique towards critical intervention. First, reflecting on findings from an in-depth, multi-sited sociological study of the global petrochemical industry, it examines a range of interdisciplinary debates that relate to alternative socio-ecological futures, including ideas of\u00a0degrowth, just transition, socio-ecological systems,\u00a0and anti-colonial and post-capitalist futures. Next, building on these, the lecture outlines new possible methodologies for researching alternatives and futures, which include considerations of deep time, qualitative complexity analysis, and intergenerational and multi-species justice. Taking these factors into account is crucial for ethical, socio-ecological thinking across long time scales, countering short-term business-as-usual assumptions about perpetual growth and expendability. This calls for socio-ecological alternatives that are based on values of equality, justice, and reciprocity, but that also recognize the need to battle systemic social inequalities.<\/p>\n