The Philomathia Conference on Political Thought and the Environment

May 25th and 26th 2012

Trinity Hall Lecture Theatre

The ways in which political actors manage the natural world and are shaped by it have always mattered, and now appear to matter more than ever. In history, economics and political theory, the environment has become a subject of great scholarly significance. Historians of ideas, too, have much to contribute, but they have rarely had the opportunity to join these discussions. This interdisciplinary conference will examine what the history of ideas can contribute to contemporary debates about the relationship of politics to the environment. By bringing together political theorists and economists with historians of political and economic thought, we hope to explore how environmental questions have influenced political thought in the past, and how they will affect its future.

Addressing these questions will allow us to bring a new perspective to the central terms of environmental discourse. By isolating more precisely the concerns that drive contemporary debate, we will be better placed to see how these might relate to the seemingly different problems that animated past thinkers. The history of ideas can show how we have come to use the categories we do; it can also show that there exists a rich array of alternative responses to concerns similar to our own, which we should not ignore when approaching current dilemmas.

A full programme can be found here.

This conference is made possible thanks to the generous support of The Faculty of History, The Centre for History and Economics, The George Macaulay Trevelyan Fund, The Arts and Humanities Research Council and The Philomathia Foundation.

Please email us to register or for further information. Please note that places are limited.

Conference Organisers: Katrina Forrester and Sophie Smith