wordfalls and scatters

Today, like yesterday, has mostly been full of people and cycling, but in the interstices I've been trying to stay up to date on the negotiations in Copenhagen. This is new for me. Until recently, I paid very little attention to high-level negotiations on...well...almost anything. I get so many students coming through my classes that are incredibly excited about the UN, and I've never felt the same way. Teaching the units I have has meant learning more about the UN and international treaties, but it's never increased my enthusiasm.

I'm not sure why Copenhagen's been different. Usually, I would hardly even follow something like this. I think the combination of the huge amounts of activism and hard work of people like PokMcFee and flyingblogspot sparked my interest, this time. I thought maybe my pessimism would be unfounded, this time.

I'm sad that it wasn't. I'm disappointed, despite my low expectations.

I'm reassuring myself by looking at the huge movement building around this, though. Like Seattle, Copenhagen is a turning point. I want to know more about the links being made, and the activism coming out of, the joining-up of global justice and climate change activism. I'm glad there's work like this out there. I'm not optimistic, but I also feel like there's still some glimmer of hope that we'll change enough, quickly enough.