Troubling Policy seminar series - Of Toil and Trouble: Coal Seam Gas, Conflicted Communities and the Promise of Prosperity - 15 Oct 2018

Troubling Policy Seminar Series

Of Toil and Trouble: Coal Seam Gas, Conflicted Communities and the Promise of Prosperity

Presented by Professor Fiona Haines

Walter Boas Building, 1pm

About the Event

Coal seam gas promised to be a relatively trouble-free rich source of profits both for industry, for governments and local communities. Yet, it has proved divisive, generating significant protest against exploitation of the resource. This seminar explores the different dimensions of this conflict through analysing how a social licence to operate is understood by those involved in protest and counter protest. The analysis illustrates how feelings of identity and belonging shape how the technology is viewed together with its potential for benefit or harm. The resulting social conflict multiplies the challenges in generating an environmentally sustainable, socially just and economically viable future.

Biography

Fiona Haines is Professor of Criminology in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Adjunct Professor at the Regulatory Institutions Network at ANU and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Her research centres on white collar and corporate crime, globalisation and regulation.

About the Series

The ‘Troubling Policy’ seminar series asks difficult questions about controversial or intractable policy challenges, seeks to find new ways of looking at these, and embraces insights from across disciplines.  The series aims to explore the societal and political context in which policy is developed, including the knowledge/s and expertise used, the technologies deployed, how these combine to shape regulation, the relationship between controversy and the policy process, and the effectiveness (or otherwise) of policy implementation. The series is hosted by the Melbourne School of Government.