We are inviting you to our first Ocean Seminar of this Summer Semester with Prof. Dr. Rakhyun Kim from Utrecht University speaking about “Insititutional Paralysis in the Anthropocene” on April 15th at 5 p.m. in the Multifunktionsraum A 205 in the Neues Institutsgebäude (NIG) at Universitätsstraße 7 or online here.
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Röhrlich from the Department of History will act as a discussant and Dr. Arne Langlet-Uranüs will be moderating.
Abstract:
International environmental institutions are becoming more active yet less effective: outputs expand while outcomes lag. In this lecture, Prof. Kim unpacks this puzzle through the lens of institutional paralysis: a persistent incapacity of environmental institutions to act, adapt, or achieve stated objectives despite sustained procedural activity. He argues that paralysis is not simply a matter of weak political will or inadequate funding. It emerges when environmental problems accumulate and interact faster than institutional capacity, and cross-institutional coordination, can scale.
He also outlines practical ways to diagnose paralysis and intervene, from survey-based warning signals to system-level reforms, incentive realignment, and, in some cases, the difficult question of retiring institutional “zombies” that occupy space while doing net harm.
