2022-05-20 Nina Wormbs

Exceptionalism and Evasion: How Scholars Reason About Air Travel

Friday 20 May 9.00 - 10.00 here: Zoom room 

Understanding how scholars reason about their own flying habits is important when dealing with the problems of large emissions from academic air travel. This study is based on a travel habits survey with scholars at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

In this study, we look at how scholars reason about how emissions from their flying could be reduced. Their responses display a spectrum of varying attitudes, from climate scepticism to a commitment to radical transformation, with the majority in between, either suggesting different types of concrete changes or invoking arguments to justify the status quo. The proposed interventions, several of which are ingenious and wise, can guide university managements to strategies that have support from employees. The more reluctant arguments point to cultural and discursive habits that must be understood and met in an empathetic way.

Nina Wormbs is professor in history of technology at KTH, and an active public intellectual. Profile

The seminar is based on the chapter Exceptionalism and Evasion: How Scholars Reason About Air Travel by Elina Eriksson, Maria Wolrath Söderberg and Nina Wormbs. It was published in this recent volume (the whole book is open access):

Bjørkdahl, K. and Franco Duharte, A.S. (eds) (2022). Academic Flying and the Means of Communication. Singapore: Springer Singapore.