Michel Bourban

Welcome to my website! 

About me

I am a moral and political philosopher working on the normative challenges raised by climate change and biodiversity loss. As an Assistant Professor in Environmental Ethics in the Section of Philosophy at the University of Twente, I lead research on climate justice, planetary justice, sustainability, eco-anxiety, and global citizenship.

My research line, “Extending Justice and Citizenship”, aims at clarifying the demands of justice and citizenship in our area of global environmental changes. It also investigates how these demands can guide just institutional reforms, steer responsible technological innovation, and encourage pro-environmental behaviour. 

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Research projects

I am the PI of the Planetary Justice and Energy Transition Technologies research project, which strengthens the normative foundations of the planetary justice framework and applies this framework to the energy transition. I am also co-leading a work package in the Horizon Re4Green project, which provides a framework for research and innovation to address overlapping issues in environmental ethics, climate ethics, and research ethics in the context of the European Green Deal. I am also co-coordinator of the Nature and Sustainability research line of the NWO ESDiT project, which develops a comprehensive philosophical understanding of technologies that are socially and conceptually disruptive. 

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Publications

I carry out research in moral, political, and legal philosophy. I work in several fields, including climate justice and climate ethics, environmental ethics, global justice, animal ethics, intergenerational justice, innovation ethics, and citizenship theory. I am interested in topics such as sustainability, eco-anxiety, energy transition, citizenship, human rights, and ideal and non-ideal theory. I am also interested in the history of philosophy, especially the moral and political philosophy of Hutcheson, Rousseau, Kant, and Rawls. 

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Teaching & Mentorship

I teach a variety of topics in ethics and political philosophy, including environmental ethics, sustainability ethics, climate justice, animal ethics, and engineering ethics. I am Coordinator of the interdisciplinary minor programme Environmental Values and Sustainable Transformations. I also supervise MA and PhD students working on a variety of topics, such as planetary justice, climate justice, AI systems, blockchain technology, and deepfakes.

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 Get in touch

Interested in supervision, collaboration, or speaking engagements?

Contact me at m.bourban@utwente.nl.