Dynamics of Resistance Movements in a World on Fire

Our world is on fire.

Figuratively and literally. Ecosystems and cities are burning across the globe. Oceans and atmospheres are warming as greenhouse gases emitted anthropogenically accumulate, stressing marine life from corals to whales and fueling cascading and compounding disasters. Bullets and bombs are flying and exploding from Sudan to DR Congo to Palestine and beyond. Behind each of these trends lies an injustice. The historical response to injustice is resistance.

What can physics contribute to analyzing a world on fire beyond studying the literal physics of fire?

In this seminar, I use basic concepts from the physics of complex systems to describe a resistance movement, which characterizes an asymmetrical form of interaction with systems of power, as a dynamical phenomenon. Using historical patterns and some case studies, I illustrate key dynamical characteristics of resistance interactions and argue that resistance is more common than previously thought. Resistance can be found in both the Human and More-Than Human Worlds, including in Earth’s response to unbridled extraction and pollution.

About the Speaker

BT Werner is a physicist subversively embedded in the academic-industrial complex. BT is professor of Environmental Physics and Complex Systems, teaching professor in Critical Gender Studies, and faculty affiliate in Ethnic Studies and at the UCSD Labor Center. BT conducts transdisciplinary research into the ways that resistance movements affect relationships between societies and the More-Than-Human World. Along with fellow troublemakers, BT is alleged to have participated in disruptive resistance movements in the Mexico-US borderlands – details have been redacted.