Eventification of the climate crisis

Keywords: climate crisis, Münster, post politics, academia
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

In 2019, the city council of middle-sized Westfalian city of Münster declared ‘climate emergency’: The city acknowledged its failure to achieve a significant reduction of carbon emissions if not urgent and significant action takes place. Despite criticisms from neoliberal and right-wing parties, the city’s action was widely supported by academics from the local universities. Over the following two years, several initiatives have been carried out by city administrators as well as academics that address the climate crisis, experimenting new ways of action and forms of collaboration. For a short time, it seems as if academia and city administration would collaborate in a highly constructive and productive way with the aim to seriously and critically address climate change.
In this presentation, I reflect on how climate crisis is addressed in the city of Münster; a cycling-friendly city that is often heralded for its efforts in responding to climate change. In particular, I shed light on activities carried out by faculties and universities. I argue that academia is a critical actor and plays a crucial role in society when it comes to societal crises. Drawing on Jacques Rancière’s ‘politics of aesthetics’, I conclude that many academic activities were merely ending as entertaining events and spectacular happenings, contributing little to important debates and the necessary re-organization of the sensible to critically address the current crisis.