Documents O'Brien, Karen 3 results

"Social contracts play an important role in defining the reciprocal rights, obligations, and responsibilities between states and citizens. Climate change is creating new challenges for both states and citizens, inevitably forcing a rethinking of existing and evolving social contracts. In particular, the social arrangements that enhance the well-being and security of both present and future generations are likely to undergo dramatic transformations in response to ecosystem changes, more extreme weather events, and the consequences of social–ecological changes in distant locations. The types of social contracts that evolve in the face of a changing climate will have considerable implications for adaptation policies and processes. We consider how a resilience approach can contribute to new social contracts in the face of uncertainty and change. Examples from Norway, New Zealand, and Canada show how resilience thinking provides a new way of looking at social contracts, emphasizing the dynamics, links, and complexity of coupled social–ecological systems. Resilience thinking provides valuable insights on the characteristics of a new social contract, and social contract theory provides some insights on creating resilience and human security in a warming world."

"The policies and decisions made today will influence climate and sustainability outcomes for the remainder of this century and beyond, and youth today have a large stake in this future. Many youth are expressing dissent toward economic, social, and environmental policies and practices that contribute to climate change in diverse ways, but clearly not all forms of climate activism have the same impact or repercussions. We have presented a typology for understanding youth dissent as expressed through climate activism. Recognizing the complex empirical reality of youth concerns about climate change, this typology has distinguished three types of activism as dutiful, disruptive, and dangerous dissent. By drawing attention to multiple ways for youth to express their political agency both within and outside of traditional political processes, we have highlighted and analyzed the diverse ways that youth are challenging power relationships and political interests to promote climate-resilient futures."

"Climate change, biodiversity loss, the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing inequity and poverty are some of the key global challenges facing us today. These multiple and interacting crises have elicited growing appeals to the need for transformation. Yet while the scholarly literature on transformations is expanding rapidly, the concept risks becoming an empty buzzword or an alibi for superficial interventions and business-as-usual responses within research, policy and practice communities. In this perspective, we look more closely at what is needed to generate the deep and enduring changes that are called for to address multiple, interacting challenges. We do this by focusing on the prefix ‘trans-', which signifies moving “across, over, or beyond” the current state of affairs, and we consider how the potential for equitable and sustainable transformations lies in our capacity to transcend entrenched boundaries and limits. Focusing on transdisciplinary, transgressive, and transcendent approaches, we reflect on how individuals, groups, and organizations can plant seeds and help to nurture the potential for radical transformative change at all scales."