Nicolas Graham, PhD
Sociology
I'm a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia. My research is in the field of the sociology of climate change. I'm currently examining the construction of a “green growth” framework for climate action in Canada. I analyze the actor networks and policy discourses that underpin this framework, aiming to illuminate both its promises and its pitfalls for advancing rapid and just decarbonization.
Research Interests
Most broadly, my work examines the relationship between society and the rest of nature.
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My research program examines how broad structures of political economy interact with networks of state, corporate, and civil society actors to influence the direction and pace of energy transitions. My research asks: how do powerful actors, policy frameworks, and competing narratives of climate action accelerate or obstruct decarbonization — and what pathways can ensure transitions that are both rapid and equitable?
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My work comprises the following three streams:
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1. Fossil Capitalism and Climate Obstruction.
2. Green Growth and the Politics of Energy Transition.
3. Environmental Movements and Alternative Pathways.
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Key Publications
Graham, Nicolas. 2021. Forces of Production, Climate Change and Canadian Fossil Capitalism. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill and Haymarket.
Graham, Nicolas. 2025. “Green Dreams or Fossil Schemes? Mapping Canada’s Green Growth Policy-Planning Network.” Energy Research and Social Science 123:104038.
Graham, Nicolas. 2019. "Canadian Fossil Capitalism, Corporate Strategy and Post-Carbon Futures." The Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie 56(2): 224-250.