We don’t have time to drink champagne on the deck of the Titanic and celebrate incremental wins. It’s time for all-hands-on deck to push for the types of systemic changes that have been outlined by scientists for years now.
ClimateVoices · Episode 68 · 03-27-25
An interview with Dana R. Fisher, a dynamic speaker and author who writes about activism, democracy, and climate policy. She calls herself an “apocalyptic optimist” based on her research on social movements, democracy, and climate politics. Dana has authored over eighty research papers and book chapters and has written seven books, including her most recent in 2024 entitled “Saving Ourselves: from Climate Shocks to Climate Action.” She is the Director of the The Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) and a Professor at American University School of International Service.
Her current projects include evaluating the ways that nationally coordinated service corps programs are working on disaster response, recovery, and resilience, as well as the effects of all sorts of activism, engagement, and protest. Fisher is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution and the chair of the Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism. Her media appearances include ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS Newshour, and various programs on NPR, BBC, and CBC. Her words have appeared in the popular media, including in the Washington Post, Slate, TIME Magazine, Politico, the Nation, and the American Prospect.
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Dana Fisher
Dynamic speaker and author who writes about activism, democracy, and climate policy
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