Bio
“Why have the most pressing issues of our time – climate change and ecological crisis – not been met with the same enthusiasm, energy, optimism, ideals and forward-looking democratic spirit as the past tragedies of poverty, tyranny and war?”
-Ulrich Beck (2010) “Climate for change, or how to create a green modernity?” Theory, Culture & Society 27(2-3): 254-66.
Overview
Currently, I am an Ocean Nexus Fellow at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, and affiliated with the Ocean Nexus Center at the University of Washington. Over the winter of 2024, I will be a visiting scholar in Paris at the Laboratorie Techniques, Territories et Sociétés (LATTS), affiliated with the École des Posts Paris Tech.
I am an environmental sociologist and ethnographer. My work focuses on the intersection of social inequalities related to infrastructure issues and the politics of climate change adaptation. Empirically, I often take an interest in what are sometimes described as “unconventional” technologies. In so doing, my contributions depart from mainstream understandings of notions like “adaptation,” “sustainability,” or “environmental justice,” because I find that these should not be taken for granted. Rather, I am interested in how such notions are increasingly located and politicized at the boundaries of popular discourse, science, and various social fields. Hence the need, as Ulrich Beck implored years ago, to take climate issues seriously in the face of ongoing crises. The sociological perspective offers a unique means of accessing combined environmental and political issues, because it concerns how social groups struggle over resources over time.
I was trained broadly, in both the United States and France. I have published work drawing from analyses conducted using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Due to my focus on practices that are often contentious and “unconventional,” this also often means they are understudied. As a result, I have found that direct, personal engagement with the world lies at the heart my knowledge production and research practice. For this reason, I often work through an ethnographic approach.
The rigor, but also breadth of ethnography has proven to be a major source of inspiration. It has led me into a number of creative and aesthetic directions in recent years as it has unified my interests, not only as a sociologist, but as a writer and photographer. Furthermore, through ethnography, I have been able to experiment with numerous data collection practices, from how I go about writing observations and interview transcriptions, to collating archival documents, to recording urban soundscapes, and even filmmaking.
Ongoing Work
While I always maintain a certain level of flexibility, I currently have three dominant research foci:
(1) Inequalities surrounding climate adaptation infrastructure. This specifically includes an interest in the material concerns driving water [desalination] and energy [wind] access and resource conveyance.
(2) The modularity of technological forms and the ideology of techno-solutionism. Here, I am concerned with the transnational circulation of ideas about how to solve climate change.
(3) Developing precise analytical and policy tools to drive the debate on equity and justice in future resource production and consumption practices. I believe strongly in science with commitments. I strive to be a public scholar, which means using my knowledge to provide a considered and politically engaged perspective, inserting myself where I can beyond the scientific field to help create a more humane society.
More Information
A complete list of publications, public engagements, grants, fellowships, references, and more are available under the CV tab of this website. Links to, and descriptions of, most of my publications can be found within this website. If there is something you have difficulty locating or wish to contact me about, write to (phonetically: be f oneill at uw dot edu).
All images and text within this website by Brian F. O’Neill
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