Kersty Hobson, BA(Hons)(Dunelm), MPhil(Cantab), PhD(London)
Research Fellow, Department of Human Geography

Email: kersty.hobson@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

My interest in the human dimensions of multi-scale environmental governance began with doctoral work on the politics and practices of sustainable consumption in post-industrial nations. While still maintaining an interest in issues of consumption, my current work also focuses on environmental justice, ethics and non-governmental organisations, with a particular interest in trans-national and national animal welfare groups; and climate change justice.

Research Interests

Non-governmental organisations; climate change justice; animal welfare geographies; practices and politics of sustainable consumption and sustainable communities; environmental governance; qualitative research methods.

Key Publications

• Competing discourses of sustainable consumption: Does the rationalisation of lifestyles make sense?’ Environmental Politics 11(2), 95-120, 2002.
• Consumption, sustainability and geography in Australia: A missing research agenda?’ Australian Geographical Studies, 41(2), 148-55, 2003.
• Thinking habits into action: The role of knowledge and process in questioning household consumption practices,’ Local Environment, 8(1), 95-112, 2003.
• Sustainable consumption in the United Kingdom: the responsible consumer and government at arm’s length’. Journal of Environment and Development, 10(3), 121-39, 2004.
• Researching sustainable consumption in Asia-Pacific cities.’ Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 45(2), 2004.
• Considering green practices: NGOs and Singapore’s emergent environmental-political space’. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 20(2), Special Issue on ‘Democracy and Civil Society: NGO Politics in Singapore’, 155-76, 2005. (with S. Niemeyer and J. Petts) ‘Rapid climate change and society; assessing responses and thresholds’. Risk Analysis, 25(6), 1443-1456, 2005.
• Enacting environmental justice in Singapore: performative justice and the Green Volunteer Network’. GeoForum, 37(5), 671-681, 2006.
• Bins, bulbs and shower timers: on the techno-ethics of sustainable living’. Ethics, Place and Environment, 9(3), 335-354, 2006.
• Environmental psychology and the geographies of ethical and sustainable consumption: aligning, triangulating, challenging?’ Area, 38(3), 292-300, 2006.

Career Highlights

Co-recipient of UK Economic and Social Research (ESRC) Grant under Environment and Human Behaviour, New Opportunities Programme (2002-2003) and recipient of Birmingham University Faculty of Science Small Grant (2002-2003); Recipient of Australia-China Council Residence Award (2005-2006); Invited Member of international working group on sustainable production-consumption systems (SPACES) (2005-2007): see http://www.sea-user.org/; Editorial board member of e-journal Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, http://ejournal.nbii.org/.