Samuel Alexander, PhD
Dr. Sam Alexander is a passionate environmental educator, scholar, and activist, who has taught with the Australia: Sustainability and Environmental Action program since 2013. He has an interdisciplinary PhD in environmental law and politics and has published widely on sustainability themes, including award-winning books and essays. His interests and expertise include sustainable consumption, social movements, renewable energy transitions, ecological economics, and environmental politics. Beyond his academic credentials, Dr. Alexander enjoys practicing sustainable living strategies, testing alternative technologies, and has co-produced a documentary on ecovillage living. Prior to joining SIT, he lectured for 10 years with the master of environment program at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and was also a research fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. As SIT academic director, he teaches a range of content, from foundational seminars on sustainability and environmental action, to research methods and ethics.
Courses Taught
- Sustainability and Environmental Action
- Research Methods and Ethics
Select Publications
Alexander, S. (2023) S M P L C T Y: Ecological civilisation and the will to art. Melbourne: Simplicity Institute.
Alexander, S., Chandrashekeran, S., & Gleeson, B. (Eds) (2022). Post-capitalist futures: Paradigms, politics, and prospects.Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Alexander, S., and Gleeson, B. (2020). Urban awakenings: Disturbance and enchantment in the industrial city. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Alexander, S. and Floyd, J. (2020). The political economy of deep decarbonisation: Tradable energy quotas for energy descent futures. Energies 202013(17), 4304.
Alexander, S. and Gleeson, B. (2019). Degrowth in the suburbs: A radical urban imaginary. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Alexander, S., McCabe, B., and Harris, P. (2019). Biogas in the suburbs: An untapped source of clean energy? Journal of Cleaner Production 215, 1025-1035.
Alexander, S. 2018. What would a ‘sufficiency economy’ look like? in Ingleby, M., and Randells, S. (Eds). Just enough: The history, culture, and politics of sufficiency. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 8,117-134.
Alexander, S. and Floyd, J. (2018). Carbon civilisation and the energy descent future: Life beyond this brief anomaly. Melbourne: Simplicity Institute.
Alexander, S. and Burdon, P. (2017). Wild democracy: A biodiversity of resistance and renewal. Ecological Citizen 1(1), 45-53.
Alexander, S. (2016). A prosperous descent: Telling new stories as the old book closes. Griffith Review 52, 4-24.
Alexander, S. (2014). Post-growth economics: A paradigm shift in progress. Arena 41/42, 93-122.
Alexander, S. (2013). Voluntary simplicity and the social reconstruction of law: Degrowth from the grassroots up. Environmental Values 22(2), 287-308.
Alexander, S. (2013). Entropia: Life beyond industrial civilisation. Melbourne: Simplicity Institute.
Alexander, S. (2012). Planned economic contraction: The emerging case for degrowth. Environmental Politics 21(3), 349-368.
Research Interests
Sustainable consumption
Social movements
Renewable energy transitions
Ecological economics
Environmental politics
Education
- PhD, Law, University of Melbourne, Australia
