Focus: Ethical Living and Social Change

In the time of late capitalism, growing inequality and increasing awareness of causes and impacts of climate crisis, what does it mean to live ethically? Our social media is saturated with perspectives around plastic use and ecological degradation, around industrialised agriculture and competing arguments for why mass population shifts to veganism can or can’t address climate change.  We are presented with a myriad of personal choices presented as ethical living, but is it possible to harness individual choices and behaviour changes into a wider forces for social change?

• Ella McSweeney. Ella a journalist and presenter RTE   BBC Radio4, The Guardian  The Irish Times around themes of climate change, ecology, agriculture and farming. 
• Sinéad Mercier. Sinéad is a Dáil Researcher with the Green Party as well as being involved with grassroots and climate justice movements in Ireland. 
• Davie Philip. Davie was a founding member of both FEASTA: the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability and Sustainable Projects Ireland Ltd the company behind the ecovillage project in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary where he now lives. 

The panel was moderated by Tom Campbell a Lecturer with the Department of International Development (NUI Maynooth), teaching modules at undergraduate and post-graduate level including: Political Economy of Environment and Development, Sustainable Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation, Food, Nutrition and Climate Security.

Focus is an audio project from Comhlámh, the association of returned development workers and volunteers.  Produced and hosted by Mark Malone, Focus is a mix of documentaries and and interviews. Over time it takes a varied look at issues and themes around global inequality and talks to people involved in different ways in challenging inequality and injustices wherever they are.