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Politics in a Climate- Challenged Society

Politics in a Climate- Challenged Society. Professor David Schlosberg Department of Government and International Relations. Overview of the Challenges. C limate change challenges us to adapt – it’s too late for prevention

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Politics in a Climate- Challenged Society

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  1. Politics in a Climate- Challenged Society Professor David Schlosberg Department of Government and International Relations

  2. Overview of the Challenges • Climate change challenges us to adapt – it’s too late for prevention • Climate change challenges the relationship between science, knowledge, progress, and democracy • Climate change challenges our dedication to justice • Climate change challenges how we govern ourselves • Climate change challenges us to rethink how we relate to the rest of nature.

  3. From Prevention to Adaptation • Adaptation is not an option • From unacceptable and impolitic to necessity • Not all adaptive responses are sustainable • Resilience • Adger: “the ability of a system to absorb change while retaining essential function…to have the capacity to adapt and learn.” • Potential dangers of resilience as an adaptive frame

  4. Science, Progress, Democracy • The fantasy of enlightenment thinking

  5. Knowledge, the public, and policy • Sarawitz: Science cannot solve disputes that are at root political or ethical. • From one-way communication to public engagement • Inclusion of a variety of local knowledges and discourses. • Examples: • NYC heat island planning • Alberta Climate Dialogue • Forthcoming work in adaptation planning

  6. The Challenge of Justice • UNFCCC 1992: “protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of mankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities” • So: • We have responsibility to the future and across borders • Equity is a basic principle • Yet we also have differing responsibilities… • …and differing capacities to act • The climate system supports life itself

  7. The Challenge(s) of Justice, continued • Expanding the community of justice: • Across borders • Across generations • Historical responsibility: polluter pays • Equity: everybody must act • Does climate change violate human rights? • Do we have environmental rights? An “environmental justice threshold” • Justice for nonhuman individuals and communities?

  8. Justice and Local Adaptation • Voice to local communities • Vulnerability mapping • Participation, engagement, and deliberation

  9. The Challenge of Governance • How do we govern ourselves through climate change? • Proposals for new forms of global governance • Focus on governance – not just governments • Governance for adaptation - Bierman • Distributed governance • Networked governance • Opposition, contestation, reflexivity

  10. The Challenge of New Materialism • The unsustainable practices of everyday life • Movements for sustainable materialism • Local energy generation and transition • Food security through community agriculture • Crafting, making, mending

  11. Framing Sustainable Materialism 1 • A response to powerlessness • Resisting the current flows of power • Embodying new forms of power and flows of materials

  12. Framing Sustainable Materialism 2 • Beyond post-materialism • Not just about valuesor political interests • Developing sustainable practices and institutions, focused on material flows

  13. Framing Sustainable Materialism 3 • Aimed directly at sustainability, and the human relationship with nonhuman world • Flows of food, matter, energy. • Actively replace a politics of separation with one of immersion. • Latour: Neither liberation from Nature nor fall…but a process of becoming ever-more attached • Critiques: Easily hijacked, often apolitical

  14. Adaptation Gives Us A Lot To Do • Future plans, collaborations, networks. • Questions….

  15. Politics in a Climate- Challenged Society Professor David Schlosberg Department of Government and International Relations

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