The Green Stories project. run by Professor Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Business at the University of Southampton has launched a new novel via the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter.
Murder in the Climate Assembly follows a moral philosopher lecturer who uses a case study of a murder in a climate assembly as a basis for her course.
The script version won the 2024 Writing Climate Pitchfest and there is also an associated play which The Green Stories keen for theatre groups to stage.
Synopsis
Iris Tate begins a new job as Professor of Moral Philosophy, hoping to find simpatico new colleagues. Instead, she finds herself in a small clique of malcontents: Percy, the fierce Head of English, Marcel, a revolutionary history professor, and GG who likes to make her students cry with miserable music. There’s also a bitter rival in Karl, the Assistant Dean.
Repressing grief, guilt and loss requires distraction, which comes in the form of a request for professional help. The Director of Public Prosecutions must decide whether to prosecute a murder which took place in a citizens’ assembly on climate. The stakes are high. For the first time, citizens’ assemblies have been granted actual power. The media frenzy resulting from a murder would mean the end of this form of direct democracy, which many believe could be the silver bullet to avert a climate crisis. Young people versed in moral philosophy would be the ideal group to consult, but confidentiality is crucial.
Iris cannot resist. People assume philosophy lacks real-world implications and she’s keen to prove them wrong. When the Dean proposes the controversial concept of ‘edutainment,’ Iris devises a moral philosophy course based on a whodunnit that all assume is hypothetical – a murder in a climate assembly. A variety of characters provide an entertaining source of ethical dilemmas, and all relate to the proposed climate policies in different ways. But what the students don’t know is that the ultimate dilemma is very real, and their conclusions will have far-reaching consequences.
You can access extracts here.
You can find more details about the Crowdfunder, the novel and more information by visiting https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dabaden/murder-in-the-climate-assembly