Keynote lecture

Climate Crisis, eco-collapse and the reactive state: exploring the glass ceiling of transformation

Dr. Daniel Hausknost is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Social Change and Sustainability (IGN), at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien). He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from Keele University. His research focusses on the relationship between modern statehood and systemic unsustainability, exploring in particular the fundamental mechanisms of state legitimation that seem to be functionally tied to unsustainable socio-economic dynamics. Overall, Daniel is interested in the historical co-evolution of representative democracy, the state and the fossil energy system and in the functional ties that stabilise their relationship. Before embarking on an academic career, Daniel used to work as an international environmental campaigner for Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other networks.