August PEPSS Seminar
Description
Join us for our August PEPSS Seminar, being held as part of our 2026 Environment Festival. The seminar will feature an interdisciplinary panel discussion on “The power of vested interests to prevent social change”.
We are pleased to announce our panellists:
Associate Professor Marianne Hanson, Honorary A/Professor in International Relations, School of Political Science and International Studies at The University of Queensland, and
Professor Daniel Nyberg, Professor of Sustainability and Organisation Theory, The University of Manchester.
Date & Time: Wednesday 26 August, 4-5:30pm AEST (UTC +10)/7-8:30am BST (UTC +1)
Location: Room 275, Level 2, Global Change Institute (Building 20), UQ St Lucia
Alternatively, here are the details if you will be attending via Zoom.
Zoom link: https://uqz.zoom.us/j/85492729402?pwd=IlIgJTjH2oUfQIfYCjQb6fsvZ4aDWy.1
(Meeting ID: 854 9272 9402 | Password: 105169)
Lineup
Professor Winnifred Louis (Seminar Chair)
Winnifred R. Louis (PhD McGill, 2001) is a professor in Psychology at The University of Queensland. She has published over 200 scholarly publications, and her research examines how identity and norms influence social decision-making. She has studied this broad topic in contexts from political violence to health to environmental choices.
Associate Professor Marianne Hanson
Dr Hanson was a Stipendiary Lecturer in Politics at Magdalen College, Oxford University before she joined The University of Queensland in 1995. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, Department of International Relations at the University of British Columbia, a Visiting Fellow at the Department of International Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a Visiting Scholar at Sciences Po in Paris. Her research interests are in international security, European security institutions, arms control and nuclear disarmament, human rights and humanitarian intervention, and normative international relations theory, with a particular focus on the role of law, norms, ethics, and international institutions in shaping global politics. Dr Hanson is currently working on a book titled 'Humanitarianism and nuclear weapons: Building a global prohibition regime without the great powers', which examines the growth of norms and legal constraints on the possession and use of nuclear weapons.
Professor Daniel Nyberg
From the politics of climate change to defending democracy, Professor Daniel Nyberg is seeking to understand how corporations, governments, and citizens negotiate different priorities when facing key challenges of our time. This qualitative researcher takes an interdisciplinary approach to his work across two main areas: climate change, where he interrogates the links between climate change and corporate capitalism, and defending democracy, where he seeks to untangle the relationships between industry and government. Professor Nyberg’s interest in climate change came from a growing sense of urgency. As public interest in green products grew, corporations were beginning to address climate change internally, through the design and delivery of green products and services. At the same time, the climate emergency led to attempts to contain or regulate polluting industries, for example through carbon offsets and other measures. Professor Nyberg has also developed a strong interest in corporate political activity, both in how public policy is interpreted and implemented in practice, as well as in how corporations seek to influence public policy. This shift from the narrow focus on corporate outcomes to the broader understanding of democratic processes, is particularly relevant in the fraught debates around climate policy.
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