Government, Anti-Reflexivity, and the Construction of Public Ignorance about Climate Change

Australia and Canada Compared

Bibliographic Data

ID12754331
AuthorsNathan Young (0000-0002-2927-7025, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, corresponding author), Aline Coutinho (Ashland (United States))
Year2013
Volume13
Issue2
Pages89-108
Publication date2013-03-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Environmental Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1526-3800 • E-ISSN: 1536-0091
PublisherThe MIT Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1162/glep_a_00168
OpenAlexW2157862054
LanguageEN
Citations received55
References cited22

This article compares the political strategies used by conservative governments in Australia (John Howard) and Canada (Stephen Harper) to manage public impressions of climate change and climate change policy. These cases are significant in part because both governments acted against the weight of domestic public opinion. While many studies of political resistance to climate change mitigation focus on the role of denial, skepticism, and counter-claims, our comparison finds a significant role for what we call “affirmation techniques,” namely the rhetorical acceptance of the consensus position on climate change followed by concerted attempts to control precisely what acceptance means. We draw on recent theoretical work on anti-reflexivity and the sociology of ignorance to explain the political effectiveness of these strategies

Climate change · Denial · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Government (linguistics · Ignorance · Political economy · Political economy of climate change · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Reflexivity · Resistance (ecology · Rhetorical question · Skepticism · Social science · Sociology · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Law · Psychology · Public Administration · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social Media and Politics

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