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Events
Apr 9

Climate across Scales: Perspectives on National Politics, Colonial Legacies, and Resilient Communities

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Lefrak Theatre
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  • Add to Calendar 2025-04-09 17:15:00 2025-04-09 19:00:00 Climate across Scales: Perspectives on National Politics, Colonial Legacies, and Resilient Communities Even as the realities of the climate crisis escalate and contribute to issues at the center of many voters’ minds, such as immigration and food insecurity, climate itself often gets pushed to the back burner in electoral politics. Exploring how climate politics is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere demands attention to the varied scales and interventions through which environmental crises become politically visible. This panel brings Barnard faculty from across disciplines to offer analytical frameworks for understanding climate politics from the perspective of the nation, colonialist legacy, and the resilient communities and solutions that can and have been developed at a range of scales. Moderated by Sandra Goldmark, this event features a cross-disciplinary panel examining key concepts shaping contemporary climate research and debates: Kimberly Marten (Political Science) will examine energy nationalism, discussing how major polluters, including China, India, and the U.S., frame climate policies in terms of national sovereignty and autonomy from foreign influence. Maricarmen Hernández (Sociology) will analyze the colonial legacies embedded in climate discourse and examine the ecological debt owed by historically industrialized nations. Anooradha Siddiqi (Architecture) will unpack the politics of resilience, critically reframing resilience as a collective project rather than an individual responsibility. Elizabeth Cook (Environmental Science) will reflect on the role of nature-based solutions, especially within informal communities. Following these presentations, Sandra Goldmark will lead an interactive Q&A, inviting panelists and audience members to further unpack these critical concepts, interrogate why climate issues often fail to resonate politically, and consider the limits and possibilities of local climate action in a global crisis. Barnard alum Vivien Li, a nationally recognized waterfront and climate expert, will also attend the event and bring expertise on her work in the field. UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library recently released Vivien Li’s oral history project, Vivien Li: Environmental Justice and Urban Waterfronts with the Sierra Club and The Boston Harbor Association (2024), detailing her work on urban environmental issues in Newark, NJ, while a Barnard commuting student; creating public awareness of environmental justice beginning in the 1980s; and focusing public attention on climate action years before Super Storm Sandy occurred in 2012. Vivien is a former public director (non-architect) of the American Institute of Architects and serves on the Mass. Energy Transformation Advisory Board.   Lefrak Theatre Barnard College barnard-admin@digitalpulp.com America/New_York public
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Even as the realities of the climate crisis escalate and contribute to issues at the center of many voters’ minds, such as immigration and food insecurity, climate itself often gets pushed to the back burner in electoral politics. Exploring how climate politics is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere demands attention to the varied scales and interventions through which environmental crises become politically visible. This panel brings Barnard faculty from across disciplines to offer analytical frameworks for understanding climate politics from the perspective of the nation, colonialist legacy, and the resilient communities and solutions that can and have been developed at a range of scales.

Moderated by Sandra Goldmark, this event features a cross-disciplinary panel examining key concepts shaping contemporary climate research and debates:

  • Kimberly Marten (Political Science) will examine energy nationalism, discussing how major polluters, including China, India, and the U.S., frame climate policies in terms of national sovereignty and autonomy from foreign influence.
  • Maricarmen Hernández (Sociology) will analyze the colonial legacies embedded in climate discourse and examine the ecological debt owed by historically industrialized nations.
  • Anooradha Siddiqi (Architecture) will unpack the politics of resilience, critically reframing resilience as a collective project rather than an individual responsibility.
  • Elizabeth Cook (Environmental Science) will reflect on the role of nature-based solutions, especially within informal communities.

Following these presentations, Sandra Goldmark will lead an interactive Q&A, inviting panelists and audience members to further unpack these critical concepts, interrogate why climate issues often fail to resonate politically, and consider the limits and possibilities of local climate action in a global crisis.

Barnard alum Vivien Li, a nationally recognized waterfront and climate expert, will also attend the event and bring expertise on her work in the field. UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library recently released Vivien Li’s oral history project, Vivien Li: Environmental Justice and Urban Waterfronts with the Sierra Club and The Boston Harbor Association (2024), detailing her work on urban environmental issues in Newark, NJ, while a Barnard commuting student; creating public awareness of environmental justice beginning in the 1980s; and focusing public attention on climate action years before Super Storm Sandy occurred in 2012. Vivien is a former public director (non-architect) of the American Institute of Architects and serves on the Mass. Energy Transformation Advisory Board.