The Social Construction of Climate Change: Power, Knowledge, Norms, Discourses (Global Environmental Governance)

Individuals, international organizations and states are calling for the world to confront climate change. Efforts such as the Kyoto Protocol have produced intractable disputes and are deemed inadequate. This volume adopts two constructivist perspectives - norm-centred and discourse - to explore the social construction of climate change from a broad, theoretical level to particular cases. The contributors contend that climate change must be understood from the context of social settings, and that we ignore at our peril how power and knowledge structures are generated. They offer a greater understanding of why current efforts to mitigate climate change have failed and provide academics and policy makers with a new understanding of this important topic. Contents......Page 6 List of Contributors......Page 8 Foreword......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 18 List of Abbreviations......Page 20 1 Introduction: Power, Knowledge and the Social Construction of Climate Change......Page 26 PART I: NORM-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE......Page 46 2 Measuring the Domestic Salience of International Environmental Norms: Climate Change Norms in American, German and British Climate Policy Debates......Page 48 3 The Netherlands’ Climate Change Policy: Constructing Themselves/Constructing Climate Change......Page 76 4 The Rise of Japanese Climate Change Policy: Balancing the Norms Economic Growth, Energy Efficiency, International Contribution and Environmental Protection......Page 100 5 Constructing Progressive Climate Change Norms: The US in the Early 2000s......Page 124 PART II: DISCOURSE ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE......Page 146 6 Climate Governance Beyond 2012: Competing Discourses of Green Governmentality, Ecological Modernization and Civic Environmentalism......Page 148 7 Singing Climate Change into Existence: On the Territorialization of Climate Policymaking......Page 174 8 Trust Through Participation? Problems of Knowledge in Climate Decision Making......Page 198 9 Disrupting the Global Discourse of Climate Change: The Case of Indigenous Voices......Page 222 10 Presence of Mind as Working Climate Change Knowledge: A Totonac Cosmopolitics......Page 242 11 Conclusion: The Constructions of Climate Change......Page 260 C......Page 272 E......Page 274 I......Page 275 M......Page 276 N......Page 277 P......Page 278 S......Page 279 W......Page 280 Introduction: power, knowledge and the social construction of climate change / Mary E. Pettenger Norm-centered perspective. Measuring the domestic salience of international environmental norms : climate change norms in American, German and British climate : policy debates / Loren R. Cass The Netherlands' climate change policy : constructing themselves / constructing climate change / Mary E. Pettenger The rise of Japanese climate change policy : balancing the norms economic growth, energy efficiency, international contribution and environmental protection / Takashi Hattori Constructing progressive climate change norms : the US in the early 2000s / Cathleen Fogel Discourse analytical perspective. Climate governance beyond 2012 : competing discourses of green governmentality, ecological modernization and civic environmentalism / Karin Bäckstrand and Eva Lövbrand Singing climate change into existence : on the territorialization of climate policymaking / Matthew Paterson and Johannes Stripple Trust through participation? problems of knowledge in climate decision making / Myanna Lahsen Disrupting the global discourse of climate change : the case of indigenous voices / Heather A. Smith Presence of mind as working climate change knowledge : a totonac cosmopolitics / William D. Smith Conclusion: the constructions of climate change / Loren R. Cass and Mary E. Pettenger. Adopting two constructivist perspectives - norm-centred and discourse - to explore the social construction of climate change from a broad, theoretical level to particular cases, this volume offers a greater understanding of why current efforts to mitigate climate change have failed and provides academics and policy makers with a new understanding of this important topic Adopts two constructivist perspectives, norm-centred and discourse, to explore social construction of climate change. This book offers an understanding of why efforts to mitigate climate change have failed. It aims to provide academics and policy makers with an understanding of this important topic. For many years individuals, international organizations and states have called for the world to confront the causes of climate change. This volume explores the discursive and normative process of the social construction of climate change from a broad level to particular cases