John Howard and Tony Abbott joined a group co-founded by Jordan Peterson and we have... questions.

Former Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, Australia's shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie, columnist Amanda Stoker, and a former deputy PM are among six Australians who have joined The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), a global group led by controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson. 

As this is, no doubt, infuriating news for some and plainly confusing news for others, we thought we should untangle some of the mystery of ARC and what the hell is going on with this news story.

Listen to the Mamamia Out Loud team discuss climate change below. Article continues after podcast. 

So wait, what is The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship exactly?

Yeah, great question! 

The group is described by its founders as an "international community with a vision for a better world where every citizen can prosper, contribute and flourish".

They're currently putting together a group of high-profile figures from politics, media, academia, and industry to attend their first conference, which will take place in London later this year. Peterson has said that the conference will look at "cultural and practical" issues, as well as "issues pertaining to the meaning of life".

In a vision statement, ARC outlines six fundamental questions for reshaping society and progressing towards their vision of the future. 

The group discusses envisioning a world built on "faith and hope", encouraging responsible citizenship, ensuring a "social fabric" focused on family, protecting "free exchange and good governance", reassessing energy and resources, and "environmental stewardship".

I don't feel like I understand this at all but okay.

Yes, that is fair enough. There doesn't seem to be a lot of solid information about exactly what this is going to be, or the actual direction of the ARC.

However, there are clearly aspects of these questions that are being driven by some highly conservative ideology. For example, in a video referring to questions around 'social fabric', Peterson said that a model for this would be something "approximating the nuclear family" with "long-term, committed, stable heterosexual marriages sanctified by the community".

Hmm.

Their vision statement also outlines that "men and women of faith and decisiveness, made in the image of God, can arrange their affairs with care and attention so that abundance and opportunity could be available for all". 

The biggest of yikes.

Wait, who is Jordan Peterson again? 

Agh, this is so painful to have to answer. 

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist and author of self-help books, such as the best-selling 12 Rules for Life. 

Once a fairly respected academic and clinical psychologist, Peterson is now an extremely controversial figure. He has been accused of transphobia for refusing to use alternative gender pronouns, he refers to the concept of white privilege as a 'Marxist lie', he has denied women's oppression throughout history, and he denies that climate change is an emergency.

Watch: Greta Thunberg speaks at COP24. Article continues after video. 

Peterson's online behaviour has become increasingly erratic in recent years and last year he was kicked off Twitter for violating the company's terms of service after he posted a transphobic tweet that used Elliot Page's deadname and said Page had his "breasts removed by a criminal physician". 

Unable to drop the incident, Peterson posted a bizarre 14-minute rant to his Instagram, breaking down every single word of his tweet and claiming that he would "rather die" than delete it. 

Oh, dear.

Peterson's denial of the climate crisis is particularly concerning in the context of ARC. The group have stated explicitly that they "do not believe that humanity is necessarily and inevitably teetering on the brink of apocalyptic disaster". 

So, who else is running this show? 

According to The Guardian, ARC has two shareholders: Legatum Ventures, which is a Dubai-based investment management group, and the billionaire British investor and Brexit supporter Sir Paul Marshall.

What else is there to know? 

Until the conference happens, likely very little. But you can keep an eye on the group's advisory board here to see who will end up at their first conference.

Image: Canva/Getty. 

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