Climate and Culture: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on a Warming World

349 Pages·2019·6.454 MB·English

by  Giuseppe Feola (editor), Hilary Geoghegan (editor), Alex Arnall (editor)

CLIMATE AND CULTURE
MultidisciplinaryPerspectivesonaWarmingWorld
How does culture interact with the way societies understand, live with and act in
relation to climate change? While the importance of the exchanges between
culture, society and climate in the context of global environmental change is
increasingly recognised, the empirical evidence is fragmented and too often con-
strained by disciplinary boundaries. Written by an international team of experts,
this book provides cutting-edge and critical perspectives on how culture both
facilitates and inhibits our ability to address and make sense of climate change
and the challenges it poses to societies globally. Through a set of case studies
spanning the social sciences and humanities, it explores the role of culture in
relation to climate and its changes at different temporal and spatial levels; illus-
trateshowapproachingclimatechangethroughtheculturaldimensionenrichesthe
range and depth of societal engagements; and establishes connections between
theoryandpractice,whichcanstimulateaction-orientedinitiatives.
giuseppe feola is Associate Professor of Social Change for Sustainability at
Utrecht University (the Netherlands) and Visiting Fellow at the School of
Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading
(United Kingdom). His research examines how societies (can) change towards
sustainability, where and why. Core empirical themes in Giuseppe’s research are
sustainabilitytransitionsinagriculturalsystems,socialmovementsandpost-capitalist
transformations. Giuseppe is the recipient of a Starting Grant from the European
ResearchCouncilandaVidiGrantfromtheNetherlandsResearchOrganization.
hilary geoghegan is Professor in Human Geography at the University of
Reading (United Kingdom). Hilary researches at the intersection of the social and
naturalsciences and explores the emotionaland affective relations between people
andthematerialworld.Usingthegeographicalconceptoflandscape,shehasworked
onthehumangeographiesofclimatechange.Hilaryiscurrentlyexaminingthesocial
andmore-than-humandimensionsofforestmanagementwhichresultfromclimate
change–inducedmovementofpestsanddiseases.
alex arnall is Associate Professor in Environment and Development at the
UniversityofReading(UnitedKingdom).Hespecialisesinthestudyofmigration,
movement,anddisplacementofpeopleandthings.Hisworkischaracterisedbyan
environmental theme, including climate change, agricultural development and
foodsystems. Muchof Alex’sempirical research has taken place inthe Maldives
and Mozambique. Alex’s research has been funded by the Economic and Social
Research Council, Department for International Development, British Academy
andNorwegianResearchCouncil.

CLIMATE AND CULTURE
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on a Warming World
Editedby
GIUSEPPE FEOLA
UtrechtUniversity
HILARY GEOGHEGAN
UniversityofReading
ALEX ARNALL
UniversityofReading
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108422505
DOI:10.1017/9781108505284
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AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Feola,Giuseppe,1979–editor.|Geoghegan,Hilary,editor.|Arnall,
AlexanderH.(AlexanderHuw),1978–editor.
Title:Climateandculture:multidisciplinaryperspectivesonawarmingworld/editedbyGiuseppe
Feola(UtrechtUniversity,TheNetherlands),HilaryGeoghegan(UniversityofReading),
AlexArnall(UniversityofReading).
Description:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2019.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019004232|ISBN9781108422505(alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Climaticchanges–Socialaspects.|Globalwarming–Socialaspects.
Classification:LCCQC903.C4382752019|DDC304.2/5–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019004232
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Contents
ListofContributors pagevii
Foreword ix
lesley head
1 ClimateandCulture:TakingStockandMovingForward 1
hilary geoghegan, alex arnall and giuseppe feola
PartI KnowingClimateChange 19
2 CulturesofPredictioninClimateScience 21
martin mahony, matthias heymann and gabriele
gramelsberger
3 VisualisingClimateandClimateChange:ALongue
DuréePerspective 46
sebastian vincent grevsmu¨hl
4 IndigenousKnowledgeRegardingClimateinColombia:
ArticulationsandComplementarities among
DifferentKnowledges 68
astrid ulloa
5 ThinPlace:NewModesofEnvironmentalKnowingthrough
ContemporaryCuratorialPractice 93
ciara healy-musson
PartII BeinginaClimateChangeWorld 115
6 Multi-temporalAdaptationstoChangeintheCentralAndes 117
julio c. postigo
v
vi Contents
7 NotfortheFaintofHeart:TasksofClimateChange
CommunicationintheContextofSocietalTransformation 141
susanne c. moser
8 AttheFrontlineorVeryClose:LivingwithClimateChangeon
St.LawrenceIsland,Alaska,1999–2017 168
igor krupnik
9 LocalisingandHistoricisingClimateChange:Extreme
WeatherHistoriesintheUnitedKingdom 190
georgina endfield and lucy veale
PartIII DoinginaClimateChangeWorld 217
10 FromDenialtoResistance:HowEmotionsandCultureShape
OurResponsestoClimateChange 219
allison ford and kari marie norgaard
11 EffectiveResponsestoClimateChange:SomeWisdomfrom
theBuddhistWorldview 243
peter daniels
12 CreatingaCultureforTransformation 266
karen o’brien, gail hochachka and irmelin gram-hanssen
13 BacktotheFuture?SatoyamaandCulturesofTransitionand
Sustainability 291
john clammer
14 CultureandClimateChange:ExperimentsandImprovisations–An
Afterword 309
renata tyszczuk and joe smith
Index 327
Contributors
AlexArnallisAssociateProfessorinEnvironmentandDevelopmentatthe
UniversityofReading,UnitedKingdom.
JohnClammerisProfessorofSociologyatO.P.JindalGlobalUniversity,Delhi,
India,andhepreviouslytaughtforovertwentyyearsinJapan,atSophiaUniversity
andtheUnitedNationsUniversity.
PeterDanielsisSeniorLecturerattheSchoolofEnvironment,GriffithUniversity
inBrisbane,Australia.
GeorginaEndfieldisProfessorofEnvironmentalHistoryandAssociateProVice
ChancellorforResearchandImpactintheFacultyofHumanitiesandSocial
SciencesattheUniversityofLiverpool,UnitedKingdom.
GiuseppeFeolaisAssociateProfessorofSocialChangeforSustainabilityat
UtrechtUniversity,theNetherlands,andVisitingFellowattheSchoolof
Archaeology,GeographyandEnvironmentalScienceattheUniversityofReading,
UnitedKingdom.
AllisonFordisdoctoralcandidateattheUniversityofOregon,UnitedStates.
HilaryGeogheganisProfessorinHumanGeographyattheUniversityofReading,
UnitedKingdom.
GabrieleGramelsbergerisProfessorforPhilosophyofScienceandTechnology
atRWTHAachenUniversity,Germany.
IrmelinGram-HanssenisPhDcandidateattheUniversityofOslo,Norway.
SebastianVincentGrevsmühlisCNRSresearcherattheCenterforHistorical
Studies(Centrederechercheshistoriques,CRH-EHESS)inParis,France.
vii
viii ListofContributors
LesleyHeadisProfessorandHeadoftheSchoolofGeographyintheFacultyof
ScienceattheUniversityofMelbourne,Australia.
CiaraHealy-MussonisLectureratCarlowInstituteofTechnology,Ireland.
MatthiasHeymannisAssociateProfessorattheCentreforScienceStudiesat
AarhusUniversity,Denmark.
GailHochachkaisPhDcandidateattheUniversityofOslo,Norway.
IgorKrupnikisChairofAnthropologyandCuratorofCircumpolarEthnologyat
theNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory,SmithsonianInstitutioninWashington,
DC,UnitedStates.
MartinMahonyisLecturerinHumanGeographyattheUniversityofEastAnglia,
UnitedKingdom.
SusanneC.MoserisDirectorandPrincipalResearcherofSusanneMoser
Research&Consulting,andResearchFacultyatAntiochUniversityNewEngland,
UnitedStates.
KariMarieNorgaardisAssociateProfessorofSociologyandEnvironmental
StudiesattheUniversityofOregon,UnitedStates.
KarenO’BrienisProfessorintheDepartmentofSociologyandHuman
GeographyattheUniversityofOslo,Norway,andco-founderofcCHANGE.
JulioC.PostigoisProfessorattheDepartmentofGeography,IndianaUniversity,
UnitedStates.
JoeSmithisDirectoroftheRoyalGeographicalSociety(withtheInstituteof
BritishGeographers).HewasformerlyProfessorofEnvironmentandSociety,and
HeadofGeography,attheOpenUniversity,UnitedKingdom.
RenataTyszczukisProfessorofArchitecturalHumanitiesattheUniversityof
Sheffield,UnitedKingdom.
AstridUlloaisananthropologistandProfessorintheDepartmentofGeographyat
theUniversidadNacionaldeColombia.
LucyVealeisREFManagerattheFacultyofScienceattheUniversityof
Nottingham,UnitedKingdom.
Foreword
lesley head
It is widely recognised that we need to shift some very big cultural frames – the
importanceofeconomicgrowth,thedominanceoffossilfuelcapitalism,thehope
of modernity as unending progress – to deal adequately with the climate change
challenge.Culturalresearch,withitsfocusonin-depthqualitativemethods,deals
with some apparently very small things, at the scale of the everyday. The impor-
tanceofculturalframingsinunderstandingclimatechangeimpactsandresponseis
nowwidelyrecognised(McCrightandDunlap2011;Adgeretal.2013;Crowand
Boykoff2014).Showinghowsuchscalesofanalysisareconnected,forexampleby
illuminating common sense or taken-for-granted understandings and practices, is
an ongoing challenge for such research. Bringing cultural research into political
analyses provides important insights into why our high-carbon world is so
entrenched,andidentifieswindowsofpossibility(Bulkeleyetal.2016:3).
Thisbookmakesdiversecontributionstothesedebatesfromdiversedisciplines.
Isummarisethosecontributionshereunderfivethemes.Further,thebookcomesat
a time when there is a sufficient body of cultural research on climate change to
enablealevelofmeta-analysis(Headetal.2016).Comparisons,connectionsand
generalisationsbetweenamultitudeofin-depthstudiesarenowpossible.Thenew
insights from this collection are no longer just good ideas in the wind but are
underpinnedbysufficientcriticalmasstogivethemweightandgravitas.Iconclude
withthreesuchinsights.
ShowingHowConceptsMatter
Whetheritistheconceptofnatureitself,orcomponentpartssuchaswildernessor
invasive species, concepts always matter in human relations with the wider world
(Castree 2015). Concepts both reflect and reinforce particular understandings and
associatedbehavioursandgovernancepractices.SebastianVincentGrevsmühl(this
ix