Clive Charles Hamilton AM

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(born 12 March 1953) is an Australian

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

currently serving as Professor of Public Ethics at the

Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) was a research center at Charles Sturt University and the University of Melbourne. CAPPE ceased operation on 31 December 2016. Its website has been archived and the academic staff and re ...

(CAPPE) and the Vice-Chancellor's Chair in Public Ethics at

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

. He is a member of the board of the

Climate Change Authority The Climate Change Authority (CCA) is an Australian Government statutory agency responsible for providing independent advice to government on climate change policy. It was established by and operates under the ''Climate Change Authority Act 201 ...

of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

, and is the founder and former executive director of

The Australia Institute The Australia Institute is an Australian public policy think tank based in Canberra, with offices also in Hobart and Adelaide. Since its launch in 1994, it has carried out research on a broad range of economic, social, and environmental issues. ...

. He regularly appears in the Australian media and contributes to

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

debates. Hamilton was granted the award of

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

on 8 June 2009 for "service to public debate and policy development, particularly in the fields of climate change,

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and societal trends".

Education and academic career

Hamilton graduated from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

pure mathematics Pure mathematics is the study of mathematical concepts independently of any application outside mathematics. These concepts may originate in real-world concerns, and the results obtained may later turn out to be useful for practical applications ...

in 1975 and completed a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

with First Class Honours from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1979. He was an Overseas Commonwealth Postgraduate Scholar and completed his

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

Institute of Development Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

in 1984. His thesis was titled "A general equilibrium model of South Korean development". He was a

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

and research fellow at the Research School of Pacific Studies of the Australian National University from 1984 to 1988 and the director of the Graduate Program in the Economics of the Development at the National Centre for Development Studies of the Australian National University from 1986 to 1988. From 1994 to 1997 he was a senior lecturer in public policy and from 1997 to 2002 he was a fellow in public policy at the Australian National University and he was a Visiting Fellow of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health in 2004. From 1988 to 1990 he was a senior research economist at the Bureau of Industry Economics of the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources (now the

Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission (PC) is the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy, regulation and a range of other social and environmental issues. The PC was created as an independent authority by th ...

). Hamilton founded the Australia Institute in 1993 and was executive director until 2008. He has been an academic visitor at the

Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics The Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford was founded in 2001. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division, University of Oxford, Humanities Division. The faculty is located next to Somerville College, Oxford, Somerville College on Woodstock ...

, a visiting lecturer at the

Oxford Martin School The Oxford Martin School is a research and policy unit based in the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. It was founded in June 2005 as the James Martin 21st Century School and is located in the original building of the Indian ...

and a visiting professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Oxford. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge and was a visiting scholar of the Department of Land Economy of the University of Cambridge. He was a senior visiting fellow of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Works

Hamilton has written about the issue of climate change politics over a period of some 15 years. His book ''

Requiem for a Species ''Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change'' is a 2010 non-fiction book by Australian academic Clive Hamilton which explores climate change denial and its implications. It argues that climate change will bring about l ...

'' (

Earthscan Earthscan is an English-language publisher of books and journals on climate change, sustainable development and environmental technology for academic, professional and general readers. History The Earthscan Publications imprint was founded by t ...

2010) explores

climate change denial Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

and its implications. His earlier books, '' Scorcher'' (2007) and ''Running from the Storm'' (2001), were critical of the Australian Government's efforts, especially in relation to the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

. Hamilton's general view about climate change is that the "world is on a path to a very unpleasant future and it is too late to stop it".Kelsey Munro
Too late for all but prayers
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 27 February 2010. Hamilton argues that to believe anything else is to deny the climate change truth and engage in wishful thinking.Steven Yearley
Book of the week: Requiem for a Species
''Times Higher Education'', 3 June 2010. Hamilton has written several books relating to

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

and

overconsumption Overconsumption describes a situation where consumers overuse their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this is the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater ...

. ''

Growth Fetish ''Growth Fetish'' is a book about economics and politics by the Australian progressive political theorist Clive Hamilton. Published in 2003 it became a best-seller in Australia. The book argues that the policies of unfettered capitalism pursued b ...

'' (2003) became an Australian best-seller and suggests that the unthinking pursuit of

economic growth In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...

has become a fetish, which has not led to any real improvements in levels of happiness. In ''Growth Fetish'', Hamilton advocates the politics of wellbeing over economic growth. In ''

Affluenza Affluenza describes the psychological and social effects of affluence. It is a portmanteau of ''wealth, affluence'' and ''influenza'', and is used most commonly by critics of consumerism. Some psychologists consider it to be a pseudo-scientific ...

'' (2005), Hamilton describes how these themes play out at a personal level, as he explores the shallowness of modern consumer life.Kirsty Needham
A serious bout of affluenza
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 28 May 2005. In '' What's Left?'' (2006) Hamilton comments on topics written about in ''Growth Fetish'' and ''Affluenza''. He argues that there is an emergence of new types of "alienation and exploitation", in the form of ravages of the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

, which have "robbed life of its meaning". '' The Freedom Paradox'' (2008) relates to the nature and consequences of advanced

consumer capitalism Consumer capitalism is a theoretical economic and social political condition in which consumer demand is manipulated in a deliberate and coordinated way on a very large scale through mass-marketing techniques, to the advantage of sellers. Thi ...

. In the book Hamilton proposes a system of "post-secular ethics" that will serve as a challenge to the "moral malaise" occasioned by the "freedom of the marketplace". '' Silencing Dissent: How the Australian Government is Controlling Public Opinion and Stifling Debate'', edited with Sarah Maddison was published in 2007. In February 2018 Hamilton published the book '' Silent Invasion: China's influence in Australia'' on the increasing involvement of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in Australian civil society and politics. In June 2020, British businessman and advocate of closer China-UK economic relations Stephen Perry and the 48 Group Club launched a defamation lawsuit in a failed attempt to block the release of Hamilton's '' Hidden Hand: Exposing How The Chinese Communist Party Is Reshaping The World''.

Political candidate

On 23 October 2009, Hamilton was announced as the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

candidate for the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in the federal seat of Higgins. He ran against nine others for the seat, and came second, receiving 32.40 percent of primary votes and 39.77 percent of preferred votes. The Australian Labor Party did not run a candidate in the election.

Bibliography

Books by Clive Hamilton include: *Hamilton, Clive (1986). ''Capitalist Industrialization in Korea'', Westview Press. *Hamilton, Clive (ed) (1991). ''The Economic Dynamics of Australian Industry'', North Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (1994). ''The Mystic Economist'', Sydney: Willow Park Press. *Hamilton, Clive & Diesendorf, Mark (eds) (1997). '' Human Ecology, Human Economy: Ideas for an Ecologically Sustainable Future'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive & Throsby, David (eds) (1998). ''The ESD Process: Evaluating a Policy Experiment'', Canberra: Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. *Hamilton, Clive (2001). ''Running from the Storm: The Development of Climate Change Policy in Australia'', Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. *Hamilton, Clive (2003). ''

'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive & Denniss, Richard (2005). '' Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2006). '' What's Left? The Death of Social Democracy'', Sydney: Quarterly Essay. *Hamilton, Clive (2007). '' Scorcher: The Dirty Politics of Climate Change'', Melbourne: Black Inc. *Hamilton, Clive & Maddison, Sarah (eds) (2007). '' Silencing Dissent: How the Australian Government Is Controlling Public Opinion and Stifling Debate'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2008). '' The Freedom Paradox: Towards a Post-Secular Ethics'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2010). '' Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist The Truth About Climate Change'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2013). ''Earthmasters: Playing God with the climate'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2016). ''What Do We Want?: The Story of Protest in Australia'', Canberra: National Library of AustraliaReadings
, retrieved 4 December 2016 *Hamilton, Clive (2017). ''Defiant Earth: The Fate of Humans in the Anthropocene'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin. *Hamilton, Clive (2018). '' Silent Invasion: China's influence in Australia'' , Sydney: Hardie Grant Books. . *Hamilton, Clive & Ohlberg, Mareike (2020). '' Hidden Hand: Exposing How The Chinese Communist Party Is Reshaping The World'', Sydney: Hardie Grant Books. .

References

External links