On September 25 at Boston University, as part of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-sponsored series organized by BU climate researcher David Marchant, I will be giving the following lecture, drawing on insights from two forthcoming papers. Below are details on the talk followed by references and links to the papers.
Climate Advocacy in the Obama Years:
Assessing Strategies for Societal Change
Matthew C. Nisbet
Northeastern University
Sept 25 5pm-6pm
Boston University
Life Sciences Building, B-01
24 Cummington Mall
This lecture evaluates the contrasting political strategies, communication approaches, and policy options pursued by U.S. advocacy groups, philanthropists, and their allies as they urge societal action to address climate change. Though these often competing networks of groups accept the undeniable, human causes of climate change, they each tend to emphasize a unique discourse about the problem, reflecting diverging views of society, nature, technology, policy, and politics. By reflecting on these differences and their implications, we can usefully think through the many ways that our own biases shape how we perceive the political conflict over climate change, who we blame, and what we prefer to be done. The goal is not to choose among competing perspectives, but to constructively grapple with their tensions and uncertainties. Through this process, we can hold our own convictions and opinions more lightly, identifying what is of value among the ideas offered by those on the left, right, and in the center.
Nisbet, M.C. (in press). Disruptive Ideas: Public Intellectuals and their Arguments for Action on Climate Change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change.
http://climateshiftproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nisbet_inpress_PublicIntellectualsClimateChange_WIREClimateChange.pdf
Nisbet, M.C. (in press). Environmental Advocacy in the Obama Years: Assessing New Strategies for Political Change. In N. Vig & M. Kraft (Eds), Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century, 9th Edition. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
http://climateshiftproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nisbet_inpress_EnvironmentalAdvocacyObamaYears_CQPress1.pdf
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Climate Advocacy in the Obama Years: Assessing Strategies for Societal Change
1. Climate Advocacy in the Obama Years:
Assessing Strategies for Societal Change
@MCNisbet
Matthew C. Nisbet
Associate Professor
Northeastern University
2. The Design to Win Report (2007)
o โA cap on carbon outputโand an accompanying
market for emissions permitsโwill prompt a sea
change that washes over the entire global economy.โ
o โThe good news is that we already have the technology
and know-how to achieve these carbon reductionsโ
often at a cost savings.โ
o โClimate change, unlike a lot of large-scale problems, is
actually one that is solvable. It is also one where we
know what we need to do. We have the best data in the
world on how to prevent climate change. Everything
was ranked by magnitude, location and sector. Itโs a
systematic approach to problem solving.โ โ Hal Harvey,
NY Times profile
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3.
4.
5. This Changes Everything?
Capitalism vs. the Climate
โOur economic model is at war with life on
Earth. We canโt change the laws of nature,
but we can change our growth economy.
And thatโs why climate change is not just a
disaster, itโs also our best chance to
demand and build a better world.โ
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7. #PeoplesClimate vs. #PeoplesEnergy?
Energy Access and Decarbonization
Shanghai 1990 v 2010 Dubai 1990 v 2007
http://weburbanist.com/2011/02/21/then-now-the-stunning-speed-of-urban-development/ @MCNisbet
10. Telling Stories about Wicked Problems
o The more complex a problem like climate
change, the more equally plausible
discourses and narratives exist about
what should be done.
o Climate change serves as an opportunity
for different groups to mobilize on behalf
of their values, goals and vision for
society.
o Climate change is โa synecdoche โ a
figurative turn of phrase in which
something stands in for something
elseโfor something much more important
than simply the way humans are changing
the weather,โ โ Mike Hulme
@MCNisbet
11. Models of science communication: How views of the scienceโsociety interface among social
scientists and practitioners have evolved over time.
Scheufele D A PNAS 2014;111:13585-13592
ยฉ2014 by National Academy of Sciences
15. @MCNisbet
Nisbet, M.C. & Markowitz, E. (in press). Expertise in an Age of Polarization: Evaluating Scientistsโ Political Awareness and
Communication Behaviors. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
17. Framing Judgments and Decisions:
Innovation and Societal Resilience Problem?
@MCNisbet
18. Who Is a Public Intellectual?
o 1) Write for and engage a broader public on matters of
popular concern, rather than narrowly targeting an expert
audience and emphasizing the more technical details of a
debate.
o 2) Specialize in the synthesis of complex, interdisciplinary
areas of research, engaging in deductive analysis across
cases and events, โworking from the top down,โ drawing
connections, making inferences, and offering judgments.
o 3) Argue on behalf of causes and policies, serving in the
role of social critic, advocate, or activist.
@MCNisbet Nisbet 2014
19. Personalities, Celebrities and Global Commodities
o Merge public and private selves by relating
complex ideas or problems to personal
anecdotes, โjourneys,โ โrealizations.โ
o Appearance, headshot, image, and dress are
likely to be consistent with the subject matter
they write about.
o Establish authenticity, commitment to a topic,
โwalks the walk,โ โpractices what they preachโ
or has acquired unique knowledge through
exceptional experiences.
o Most are commodities, in that their books,
writing, and speeches are bound up with a dense
web of promotion, selling, marketing, and
millions of dollars in transactions.
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20. Public Intellectuals and Wicked Problems:
Creating a Common Language and Outlook
o Promote a common storyline about climate change, defining who or
what is to blame, what should be done, and what action would mean for
the future.
o Discourses informally guide the decisions of advocates, funders,
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journalists, and governmental officials.
o Define which experts or views might be mainstream versus what
might be contrarian or out of bounds.
o Once assumptions and authorities established, โcostly in terms of
human mental labor to re-examine what has finally come to be
taken for granted.โ
o Other public intellectuals are needed to โdisturb the canonical peaceโ
and โdefamiliarize the obviousโ by identifying the flaws in
conventional wisdom and by offering alternative renderings of a
problem.
21.
22. Universities and Disruptive Ideas
@MCNisbet
Nisbet, M.C., Hixon, M., Moore, K.D., & Nelson, M. (2010). The Four Cultures: New Synergies for Engaging Society on
Climate change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8, 329-331.