In our culture of immediacy and certainty, to admit our unknowing can be a radical act. Yet life, within and beyond us, is a mystery. The universe is persistently puzzling, more complex than we think, or can think. Coming to terms with this reality can feel confusing in a society…

‘I didn’t know the cost of entering a song — was to lose your way back.’― Ocean Vuong, Night Sky With Exit Wounds ‘Body, they blame you for all things and they seek in the body what does not live in the body.’ — Ilya Kaminsky At the root of…

Only a portion of human beings, not humanity, are responsible for our ecological crisis — Popular portrayals of our ecological crisis are suffused with narratives that ‘we are all to blame’. These stories position humanity as a whole as “responsible for the climate crisis”, guilty of centuries of negligence. Yet the story of climate change is inseparable from inequality. Put simply, not everyone has contributed…

Climatic disasters are raw reminders of the inequalities and deprivations of our societies — “At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?” — Ilya Kaminsky A month ago today, Cyclone Idai barreled across the Indian Ocean towards the southeastern coast of Africa. Torrential rains before…

A rapid guide to the sources of climate violence — When it comes to emissions there are five major discussions: where, what, who, when and how? Where are emissions coming from? What level of emission cuts do we make? Who will make the emissions cuts? By when should those emission reductions take place? How will they be made? Where: types of emissions Our excessive…

Climate violence stems from the collision of extreme atmospheric conditions and acute social realities. — ‘Humanity is something we still have to humanize.’ — Gabriela Mistral ‘When it rains everything is drenched… but mostly the poor’ — Pedro Lemebel ‘It’s not a coincidence that our land is dying and our women are dying’ — Melina Laboucan-Massimo ‘The rivers have memory’ — Luz Marina Mantilla What…

‘If the earth (mati) breaks so much, how do we stay manush (human)?’ — overheard by Naveeda Khan, along the Jamuna River,in rural Bangladesh (1) ‘Maatu hamru, paani hamru, hamra hi chhan yi baun bhi… Pitron na lagai baun, hamunahi ta bachon bhi. (Soil ours, water ours, ours are these…

Note: The public resources listed below may be of interest to those interested in climate justice, complexity theory, economic systems thinking, intersectionality, and bold social transformation. The resources build on themes and ideas developed in the book The Memory We Could Be. Unfortunately these resources are only for English-speakers. Resources…