School of Social and Political Science

Background

I have a diverse academic and professional background in South Africa and moved to the UK for a part-time PhD starting in 2020. I now find myself with deepening roots in Scotland as an early career scholar primarily in environmental political theory and environmental humanities, and working part-time as an editor of social science publications of various stripes. 

In my doctoral thesis, I investigate modern environmental science's changing relationship to society and politics. I argue that science's confrontation with the climate crisis is forcing it to confront the limits of hegemonic assumptions about humanity's planetary "mastery". To do so, I draw especially on the critical ecofeminist framework of Valerie Plumwood, and the decolonial ecology of Malcom Ferdinand. I focus on environmental reports to policy-makers as a complex example of both the changes in science's self-understanding and the hang-ups that remain. I also engage closely with the debate about the 'Anthropocene' and its alternatives, noting especially the theoretical and strategic clarity of the 'Plantationocene' for science and green thought more broadly. The project will be completed in early 2026. 

I have been employed by the School of Social and Political Science for the past five years in various contract roles, including as Senior Tutor on one of the university's largest undergraduate courses, viz., Political Thinkers, working alongside a team of tutors and lecturers led by Dr Jared Holley. Beyond the classroom, I organise seasonal outdoor philosophy excursions in and around the city, "Seasonal Sessions", with the support of CRITIQUE and the Edinburgh Environmental Humanities Network. 

Supervisors

Dr Elizabeth Cripps (Politics), Prof Mathias Thaler (Politics), and Prof Matthew Chrisman (Philosophy)

Publications

Garland, G. (2022) 'Decolonial ecology: thinking from the Caribbean World, Review', Environmental Politics, Vol. 32, Issue 2, December 2022, 373-375.

Garland, G. (2017) 'Economic growth and progress: A paradigmatic conflation', African Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 11 No. 2, February 2018, 77‑95.

Education

• Master of applied ethics (MA): Environmental ethics (University of the Witwatersrand)
• Master of business administration (MBA) (University of Stellenbosch Business School)
• Postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE): History and English literature (University of Cape Town)
• BA (Hons): History documentary film-making (University of Cape Town)
• BA: History, Film studies (University of Cape Town)

Teaching

• Political Thinkers tutor, Senior tutor (University of Edinburgh 2020-ongoing)
• Politics and International Relations: Debates and Concepts tutor (University of Edinburgh 2021-22)
• History of Western Philosophy tutor (University of the Witwatersrand 2019)
• Introduction to Ethics tutor (University of the Witwatersrand 2018)

Awards

• Environmental Changemaker Award 2024 (from Edinburgh Sustainability & Social Responsibility Department, SRS)
• Sue Grant Award 2023 (for contribution to the School community, Edinburgh)
• Alice Brown Part-Time PhD Scholarship 2020-2026 (University of Edinburgh)
• Mark Leon Award for Best Philosophy Tutor 2019 (University of the Witwatersrand)
• Director's Award for Best MBA Student 2017 (University of Stellenbosch)
• A.W. Mellon Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities 2009-2011 (University of Cape Town)

Outreach

• Lead co-ordinator of quarterly philosophy fieldtrips known as the Critique-EEHN Seasonal Sessions
• Steering committee member of Sus+ Edinburgh University Network of Social Scientists for Sustainability

Memberships

• Founding member of CRITIQUE Environmental Working Group
• Advanced Earth Fellow of the Edinburgh Earth Initiative
• Member of Edinburgh University Political Theory Research Group
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Conference presentations

• May 2025, Cambridge Review of International Affairs workshop (Cambridge), title: Epochal transitions: The Politics of Alternatives to the Anthropocene
• May 2025, Philosophy & Science Mini Symposium, Ashworth Philosophy of Science Discussion Group (Edinburgh), title: An 'Ecological Crisis of Reason'? Ambiguities and Vulnerabilities of Scientific Knowledge
• May 2025, British International Studies Association Postgrad Network (BISA PGN) conference, title: What Epoch is this? The Politics of Alternatives in the Anthropocene
• January 2025, Britain and Ireland Association of Political Thought conference (BIAPT, University of York), title: Rationalism and the Equivocations of Science in the "Century of the Environment"
• November 2024, 'Ecological Transformations' week-long workshop (University of Sydney-Edinburgh partnership), title: The Politics of Nature and Historical Injustice
• June 2024, 'Beyond Radical' Environmental Humanities Conference (Universities of Manchester and St Andrews), title: Rationalism's Stubborn Fires: An Ecofeminist Reading of Science in the “Century of the Environment”
• June 2023, Postgraduate Conference in Political Theory (University of Edinburgh), title: Resisting the Great 'Backgrounding': Ecology, Methodology, and the Imagination  
• October 2022, Graduate School for the Humanities (University of Cologne), 'Eco-temporalities and 'geo-politics', title: Resisting the 'Inevitable' Destruction of Other-than-human Beings in Climate Justice Theory