Geoengineering Discourse Confronting Climate Change

Brynna Jacobson

doi:10.5771/9781793635297

Summary

Geoengineering, the idea of addressing climate change through large-scale technological projects, stands out among contested technologies in the degree to which its scope of possibilities and its premise are characterized by global existential risks. Despite controversy, this field has been shifting toward mainstream consideration. Geoengineering Discourse Confronting Climate Change: The Move from Margins to Mainstream in Science, News Media, and Politics examines the trajectory of geoengineering through critical discourse analysis of three key genres: science policy reports, news journalism, and congressional hearings. Brynna Jacobson explores how reports from distinguished scientific societies have constructed certain notions of legitimacy around geoengineering, how narratives within news coverage have reflected and shaped the public discourse and understanding of geoengineering, and how geoengineering has garnered political support from both major political parties in the United States. Through analysis of discursive conventions within these genres, the author reveals the evolution of notions of normalcy, legitimacy, and imperative around the field of geoengineering.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-3528-0
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-3529-7
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 270
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Acronyms No access
1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Geoengineering No access
  3. Overview and Preview No access
  4. Notes No access
2. 1. Modernity, Risk, and Climate Politics No access
  2. Geoengineering and the Challenge of Reflexive Modernization No access
  3. The Scientific Framing of Technological Risks No access
  4. Note No access
1. 1. Introduction to the Geoengineering Reports of Scientific Academies No access
  2. Defining/Framing the Problem and Matching the Solution No access
  3. Plan B Albedo Modification No access
  4. Evaluation by Comparison No access
  5. Internal Evaluation and Iterative Knowledge Claims No access
  6. Normalizing and “Naturalizing” Proposed Techniques No access
  7. Comparing Reports No access
  8. Notes No access
2. 1. Relative Legitimation of Actors and Research No access
  2. Transparency, Multilateralism, and Public Participation No access
  3. Scientific Experiments and Public Communication: The Case of SCoPEx No access
  4. Discussion and Conclusion No access
  5. Notes No access
1. 1. Shifting Sentiment and Move to Mainstream No access
  2. Media Treatment of the National Research Council Geoengineering Report No access
  3. Conclusion No access
  4. Notes No access
2. 1. Focus on Controversy No access
  2. Presenting Geoengineering as a Mitigation Alternative No access
  3. The Decoy Effect in Presenting Geoengineering “Options” No access
  4. Analogies and Metaphors No access
  5. Conclusion No access
  6. Addendum: Beyond 2016 No access
  7. Note No access
1. 1. Introduction to U.S. Congressional Hearings on Geoengineering No access
  2. Premises Articulated for Geoengineering and the Congressional Hearings No access
  3. Forms of Skepticism Enacted at Geoengineering Hearings No access
  4. A Shift in Political Consideration of Geoengineering: 2009–2017 No access
  5. Witness Testimony No access
  6. Situating Geoengineering Hearings in Context No access
  7. Notes No access
1. 1. Interactional Effects, Interconnections, and Complexities No access
  2. Changing the Political Debate No access
  3. Geoengineering and the Economy No access
  4. The Counter Move of Environmentalism No access
  5. Concluding Summations on Geoengineering Discourse No access
  6. Notes No access
References No access Pages 243 - 262
Index No access Pages 263 - 268
About the Author No access Pages 269 - 270