Danielle Celermajer

Professor of Sociology and Social Policy
University of Sydney
Danielle has worked in the field of human rights across a number of different types of organisations - government, non-governmental and now in the academy. The perennial questions that have underpinned her work in all of those roles are: "What is just and fair (in this situation)?", and "What would we need to do or to be to get closer to justice (in this situation)?" and "How can we humans transform ourselves and our practices so that we are more open to the experience, hopes and suffering of others (human and non-human)?" Danielle is currently a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney where she leads the Human Rights Program. Her research focus in recent years has been on the prevention of torture and more broadly on developing effective strategies for preventing human rights violations. She is now starting a new project on how narratives and images of suffering can catalyse others to take action to address injustice.

From this author

Inclusive and workplace acceptance of refugees
Partnering for refugee employment

When considering their talent pipelines, few companies think outside-of-the-box. Most refugees flourish in the workplace, and so do the businesses that hire them.

SDG 16
Institutional investors demand a more sustainable capitalism

Honey gathering is a solitary job in Indigenous communities. The collector then shares the honey with their community but refrains from joining in the honey feast themself. The idea is that the gathering is not about their gratification, it’s about their contribution to the collective.  

SDG15 Bushfires
Optimisation model as a guide to burning forests to save forests

Setting fire to parts of a forest to save it might seem counterintuitive to urban communities. There is no equivalent of torching a few streets to protect a suburb. However, amongst First Nations people in Australia, hazard reduction burning is a well-established practice.

SDG13 - coal mining
Net zero now – it’s the economy AND the planet

In Australia, as elsewhere, the climate wars have focused on the climate versus jobs dichotomy. Yet while Australia remains highly dependent on fossil fuel extraction for its national economic prosperity it has also become increasingly unequal in its distribution of that wealth.