Breaking the Feedback Loop: Fossil Fuels, the Climate Crisis, and Democratic Decline
Online Symposium: October 27 & 28, 2026
Keynote Speaker: Daniel J. Fiorino, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy, American University School of Public Affairs, and author of Can Democracy Handle Climate Change? (Polity, 2018) and The Clean Energy Transition (Polity, 2022)
Cosponsored by the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University and the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning (CITL) at Boston University
In the 21st century, the environmental crisis of climate change and the political crisis of democratic decline have been pulled into a single feedback loop, in which each crisis makes the other more severe. As climate change fuels mass-migrations, the resulting spike in xenophobia within developed countries hastens the rise of ultranationalist leaders and policies that weaken democracy and thwart effective multilateral cooperation to address the climate crisis. The resulting rejection of democracy and cooperative climate action increases the likelihood of a more severe climate degradation in this century with greater mass migrations and a more complete breakdown of democratic institutions and multilateral cooperation. The goal of this symposium is to understand these overlapping environmental and political crises and explore effective ways to break the cyclical relationship between climate degradation, ultranationalism, and democratic decline.
We welcome paper proposals on the impact of fossil fuel dependency on democratic governance around the world, the intertwined phenomena of mass migrations, xenophobia, and democratic decline, and efforts to protect both democracy and the environment in an era of climate instability and resurgent authoritarianism. Scholars from a wide array of disciplines including political science, environmental science, and history are encouraged to apply. Please send a 500–750-word proposal to: rsdeese@bu.edu before May 31, 2026