How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
By: Graham Sustainability Institute Education Director and Former Erb Faculty Director, Andrew Hoffman Stanford University Press, 2015
Book description: Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modeling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. This brief examines what causes people to reject or accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Synthesizing evidence from sociology, psychology, and political science, Andrew J. Hoffman lays bare the opposing cultural lenses through which science is interpreted. He then extracts lessons from major cultural shifts in the past to engender a better understanding of the problem and motivate the public to take action. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate makes a powerful case for a more scientifically literate public, a more socially engaged scientific community, and a more thoughtful mode of public discourse.
Interviews on the cultural schism of climate change:Interview with St. Gallen Forum for Management of Renewable Energies – May 22, 2015Teaching session at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto – December 18, 2015Teaching session at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment – March 3, 2016
This book has been featured in:
- The Union of Concerned Scientists – November 24, 2014 How to Talk About Climate Change at Thanksgiving: Recipes for Good Conversations
- Geographical Magazine – February 6, 2015 Climate change’s poisoned culture
- The Chronicle of Higher Education – February 9, 2015 Isolated Scholars: Making Bricks, Not Shaping Policy
- Ross Thought in Action – February 25, 2015 How to Bridge the Climate Change Stalemate
- GreenBiz – February 27, 2015 From Al Gore to Solyndra, 4 ways culture shapes the climate debate
- Marketplace – February 27, 2015 Tallying the economic winners of the status quo
- Revista Brasileira de Estudos de Populacao (Portuguese) – February 28, 2015 Ciência, cultura e a estagnação da agenda ambiental
- Michigan Radio – March 4, 2015 New Book explores peoples’ attitudes towards climate change
- Corporate EcoForum, EcoInnovator Blog – March 8, 2015 The Cultural Schism of Climate Change: How science takes a back seat to identity politics in the U.S.
- ecoAmerica, ecoAffect – March 9, 2015 Climate Through a Cultural Lens: Why People Disagree on Climate Change
- Union of Concerned Scientists, The Equation – March 11, 2015 Book Review: How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- The Conversation – April 2, 2015 Social sciences are best hope for ending debates over climate change
- MLive – April 3, 2015 Moving beyond vitriol and demonization in the climate change debate: A conversation with U of M’s Andrew Hoffman
- Stanford Social Innovation Review – April 6, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- International Business Times – April 10, 2015 Is Climate Change Real? Here’s Why Some Americans Still Have Doubts
- Bloomberg Radio – April 13, 2015 Erb’s Hoffman on Why People Reject Climate Change (Audio)
- Public Media from Michigan State University WKAR – April 13, 2015 MSU Today with Russ White
- Ricardo Abramovay – April 14, 2015 Mudanças climáticas são um caso de embate cultural (Portuguese)
- Center for Climate and Energy Solutions – April 17, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- The Energy Collective – April 21, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- The New Global Citizen – April 29, 2015 Culture and climate: Getting the Social Science Right for Change
- Public Media from Michigan State University – May 6, 2015 U-M prof examines science vs. values in climate debate
- Anthem EnviroExperts Review – May 8, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- Goodreads review by Thomas Cook – May 21, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- Climate of Change blog by Doug Craig – June 9, 2015 Cultural identity and climate change (Part 1)
- Climate of Change blog by Doug Craig – June 17, 2015 Cultural identity and climate change (Part 2)
- Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal – June 17, 2015 Andrew J. Hoffman: How Culture Shapes Climate Change
- Climate of Change blog by Doug Craig – June 22, 2015 Cultural identity and climate change (Part 3)
- Sustainability Resources – Books, Reports, Films and Websites – June 24, 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- EDF Solutions – Vol. 46, No. 3 / Summer 2015 – July 20, 2015 Review – New Book on Climate: Polar opposites
- Utah Public Radio – August 6, 2015 Challenges of Marketing Climate Change on Wednesday’s Access Utah
- Stanford Briefs – August 2015 Review: How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- Sierra Magazine – September/October 2015 – August 25, 2015 Books: What Makes Climate Deniers Tick?
- Yale Climate Connections – October 7, 2015 Review: Books on Social Sciences & Climate Change
- MIT Technology Review – December 22, 2015 Emotionally Overheated
- Environmental Values (forthcoming) – December 2015 How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
- Portland Press Herald – February 21, 2016 Open Book: Recommendations from Fiona Wilson of Freeport
- Yale School of Management – March 24, 2016 Finding Common Ground in the Climate Change Debate
- ecoAmerica – September 22, 2016 4 Indispensible Resources Every Climate Communicator Needs
- New Zealand Management – April 12, 2017 What is your calling?