Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power Book Launch

The School of the Environment invites you to join Dr. Hanna E. Morris as she discusses her new book Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power.

Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025

Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Venue: The Earth Hub Lobby (ES 1040), Earth Sciences Centre; 5 Bancroft Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5S 3J1

If you have any questions, or require any accommodations due to accessibility, please contact [email protected]

In (Oxford University Press, 2025), climate media scholar Hanna E. Morris (University of Toronto) reveals how national anxieties following the presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016 have shaped American journalistic and political interpretations of climate change in ways that severely limit how it has come to be known, imagined, and contended with. Looking at climate change reporting across prominent and ideologically diverse U.S. news publications over the past decade, the book traces how news media create an illusion of control in the present through nostalgic and heroic stories of the past. Morris identifies a new mode of reactionary politics called "apocalyptic authoritarianism" to describe the post-2016 alignment of historically privileged figures united by a common enemy of the "new" New Left and a shared appeal to fears of "total crisis." Their antidemocratic paradigm portends national and planetary disarray if progressive social and climate justice "warriors" are not controlled at home and if "unruly masses" of climate migrants are not contained abroad. In addition to contending with the implications of apocalyptic authoritarianism, Morris also calls for more robust forms of climate journalism and politics capable of facilitating—not impeding—radically democratic responses to climate change.

You can buy Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power online ahead of the launch event using this link.

Use code AUFLY30 for 30% off.

Info: A reflection and discussion on Dr. Hanna E. Morris' book 'Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power'

Info: Following the book talk, attendees are invited to participate through questions and brief comments.

Info: Following the discussions, a reception with refreshments will be held in the Earth Hub Lobby where copies of 'Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power' will be available for purchase and can be signed by Dr. Hanna E. Morris.

Host or Publisher School of the Environment; University of Toronto