In this short talk, social theorist Sarah Stein Lubrano will present some key ideas from her book, Don't Talk About Politics, which argues that a focus on debate and a "marketplace of ideas" serve as distractions (and worse) from the real work of political change: building key relationships and helping people take action in the world.
Dr. Stein Lubrano will then explore a key concept in the book, cognitive dissonance, and argue that it can help to understand the reasons people sometimes accept, and sometimes reject, new pieces of legislation. Using the example of low-emission zones, which have received extreme blowback from the public in recent years, she will ask: what would it take to help the public accept climate legislation? Can, and should, politicians and policy-makers do what it takes? And can the same psychology be used for ill?