Our world needs positive and radical change. The UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, being held in Glasgow this November is a moment of incalculable worldwide importance as decisions made there will shape this decade and therefore the century. Dr. Rupert Read, philosopher, author, former XR UK strategist and spokesperson, shares insights from his involvement with Extinction Rebellion from the very beginning of the movement. Read discusses how the movement’s successes and challenges can help us act strategically at this critical time and what it will take to create the change we need.
*Read’s talk is prerecorded due to the time difference between the UK and the US, but there will be opportunity for questions and discussion amongst participants.
Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, England. Read is the author of over a dozen books on philosophy, the climate crisis, and the intersection between the two. Until recently, he was a frequent spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. Previously, he was a spokesperson, national parliamentary candidate, European parliamentary candidate and councilor for the Green Party of England and Wales and chaired the ecological think tank Green House. Read has written for The Guardian, The Independent and The Ecologist, many other newspapers and websites and has been a frequent speaker on BBC radio.
Read is the author of Extinction Rebellion: Insights from the Inside, an essential collection of essays, articles, and interviews. Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist , writes, “‘Rupert Read and Samuel Alexander take us deep inside the debates, tactics, and passion that have bound XR together from its founding days, bringing us radical reflections from the frontlines of rebellion. If you want to understand the movement that is finally waking us up, read this book.”