In our first season we explored the various problems with the discipline of economics and how they relate to our crises.

In season two we’re starting to dive into the various ways — given all its flaws and given mounting frustration with the status quo — economics seems to resist reform.

One of the ways is in the institution of education, the university, itself.

That's the topic of discussion with our guest in this episode, Jennie C Stephens, Professor of Climate Justice at the University of Maynooth in Ireland and author of the acclaimed open source book Climate Justice and the University: Shaping a Hopeful Future for All.

After starting out in the natural sciences, Jennie tells of how she became frustrated with the 'technical' solutions to climate change, and shifted instead to dedicating her research to climate justice. Part of that research has taken her to exploring the role of the university itself and how it upholds the extractive, fossil fuel economy.

Much of that comes back to the economic model of the past decades, infused by neoclassical/neoliberal economic thinking. We discuss how universities have become increasingly financialised and how many universities, even the most elite, rely heavily on private donors and corporate partnerships, with Jennie citing research she’s undertaken into the role of fossil fuel funding in energy and technology departments in some of the most prestigious universities around the world.

But as we also get into, it’s not just private funding. Public funds, where they do get directed towards education, also often go towards the same kinds of extractive industries. We talk particularly about how that is playing out in Ireland right now, one of the data centre capitals of the world, where public research funds are increasingly being funnelled towards AI and not towards, say — figuring out ways to live without fossil fuels.

We end by discussing visions of the role the university could play — if it embraced a vision not, say, of contributing to neoliberal capitalism or economic growth, but to the common good.

Find out more about the Climate Justice Universities movement here:
https://climatejusticeuniversitiesunion.org/

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Further reading:
Climate Justice and the University: Shaping a Hopeful Future for All
Jennie C. Stephens, 2024. Johns Hopkins University Press

Free epub download here: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/123270