Open AccessConsensus and contrarianism on climate change: How the USA case informs dynamics elsewhere
Author(s) -
Maxwell Boykoff
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
mètode. annual review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2174-9221
pISSN - 2174-3487
DOI - 10.7203/metode.6.4182
Subject(s) - contrarian , skepticism , climate change , politics , scientific consensus , context (archaeology) , political science , perspective (graphical) , environmental ethics , political economy of climate change , political economy , sociology , social science , global warming , epistemology , geography , law , economics , ecology , philosophy , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , financial economics , biology
Against a contrasting backdrop of consensus on key issues on climate science, a heterogeneous group dubbed climate «skeptics», «contrarians», «deniers» have significantly shaped contemporary discussions of climate science, politics and policy in the public sphere. This essay focuses on the USA context, and explores some of the intertwined social, political and economic factors, as well as cultural and psychological characteristics that have together influenced public attitudes, intentions, beliefs, perspective and behaviors in regards to climate change science and governance over time. This article makes the case that the USA example can inform developments elsewhere; as such it is important to consider these contextual elements to more capably appraise «contrarian», «skeptic», «denier» reverberations through the current public discussions on climate change.