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Self and world in lay interpretations of climate change
Citation
Denniss, RJ and Davison, A, Self and world in lay interpretations of climate change, International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 7, (2) pp. 140-153. ISSN 1756-8692 (2015) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 Emerald Group Publishing
DOI: doi:10.1108/IJCCSM-03-2014-0046
Abstract
Purpose – Although awareness is growing that lay people interact with scientific
knowledge about climate change in complex ways, relatively little is known about this
interaction. Much quantitative research on public attitudes to climate change does little to
draw out the cognitive and experiential processes by which lay people arrive at
understandings of climate change. This paper reports on an in-depth qualitative study that
focuses on the convergence of the interpretive activities of knowing, living in and valuing
the world in lay reasoning about climate change.
Design – Through narrative analysis of qualitative interviews this study examines lay rationalities of climate change as a process of not only knowing the world (epistemology), but of being oriented towards the world (ontology) and valuing the world (axiology).
Findings – Findings emphasise the extent of individual variation in lay interpretations of climate change, and their internal complexity. Almost all participants display differences in reasoning about climate change when considering their personal lives as compared to the wider, public world. Distinct accounts of self and world in lay rationalities are evident in the ways that participants imagine the future and express their feelings of culpability for and responsibility to act on climate change.
Originality/Value – This paper argues that lay reasoning about climate science does not just engage ways of knowing the world, but also ways of being in and valuing the world so as to open up multiple trajectories for comprehension.
Design – Through narrative analysis of qualitative interviews this study examines lay rationalities of climate change as a process of not only knowing the world (epistemology), but of being oriented towards the world (ontology) and valuing the world (axiology).
Findings – Findings emphasise the extent of individual variation in lay interpretations of climate change, and their internal complexity. Almost all participants display differences in reasoning about climate change when considering their personal lives as compared to the wider, public world. Distinct accounts of self and world in lay rationalities are evident in the ways that participants imagine the future and express their feelings of culpability for and responsibility to act on climate change.
Originality/Value – This paper argues that lay reasoning about climate science does not just engage ways of knowing the world, but also ways of being in and valuing the world so as to open up multiple trajectories for comprehension.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | lay rationalities, everyday life, ontology, climate change, epistemology, qualitative interviews, axiology |
| Research Division: | Human Society |
| Research Group: | Human geography |
| Research Field: | Social geography |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather |
| Objective Field: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Denniss, RJ (Ms Bec Denniss) |
| UTAS Author: | Davison, A (Associate Professor Aidan Davison) |
| ID Code: | 96269 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 1 |
| Deposited By: | Geography and Environmental Studies |
| Deposited On: | 2014-10-29 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-01 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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