'Any discussion and analysis of climate change today must include an investigation of colonial history and its devastating impact on Indigenous nations' (Tony Birch, 2016).

A free lunchtime talk and Q&A with the award-winning Indigenous author and activist, Professor Tony Birch (Dr Bruce McGuiness Research Fellow, University of Victoria, Australia)

From North America to Europe, Tony Birch’s international speaking engagements centralize climate justice and indigenous people’s rights in a context of 200-years plus of resisting colonial oppression, dispossession, violence and abuse. The recipient of prestigious prizes such as the Patrick White Literary Award (2017), his work aims to create, ‘conditions of contemplation, of ethical thinking, of dignified relationships across different divides’ (2019).

As he explains it, Suffering on a global scale has been the result of past colonial land management practices and a contemporary reliance on those practices within both mining and agricultural industries. My work is partly concerned with the potential in bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together; to fully value and respect the vital ecological knowledge held in Indigenous communities and consider the remarkable possibilities of sharing such knowledge in the wider community.

A collaboration between The Department of Law and The Department of Theatre and Performance, Goldsmiths University of London, in conjunction with the Moondani Ballak Indigenous Academic Unit, Victoria University, Australia.

If you were inspired by Maori academic activist Prof. Linda Tuhiwai Smith's lecture for the Sociological Review on 16th October, then this is an event for you - and anyone committed to climate justice and valuing Indigenous people's knowledge.

Any Enquiries to Heather Marks at: hmark002@gold.ac.uk
Co-organisers: Dr. Deirdre Osborne (Theatre and Performance) and Prof. Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos (Law)