Doctoral Researchers Network: Researching Climate Crisis workshop

SPERI's Doctoral Researchers Network held a one day workshop for doctoral and early-career colleagues engaged in political economy research on climate change and energy transition.

four attendees sit around a table for discussion

Our Doctoral Researchers Network (DRN) hosted another successful event on 24th June 2025, open to doctoral and early-career colleagues within and beyond 91ÖÆÆ¬³§. The workshop consisted in two sessions.

Session #1 - The Climate Turn: Green Transition in Political Economy.  r) spoke about why a political economy approach to climate change and green transitions is useful (and necessary?), assessing the key debates in the current green transition IPE literature, and identifying any key gaps or opportunities for research in this area.

Session #2 - Researching Apocalypse: Challenges of Climate Scholarship. This was a facilitated space for candid discussion about the emotional challenges of climate research; the challenges of navigating an increasingly crowded field as PGRs or ECRs; and challenges arising from the unique characteristics of climate change as a topic.

Some key themes arising from the workshop included confronting the contradictions of 'green' transition, relationships between climate and capitalism, the politics and temporality of climate activism, the place of revolutionary climate politics, the relationship between Palestine solidarity and climate activism and the emotional challenges of climate scholarship.

The DRN are considering follow-up events to continue conversations on these themes. If you're a PGR or ECR interested in getting involved, please contact Chris Saltmarsh (csaltmarsh1@sheffield.ac.uk).

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