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Climate Change
Written by a leading geographer of climate, this book offers a unique guide to students and general readers alike for making sense of this profound, far-reaching, and contested idea. It presents climate change as an idea with a past, a present, and a future. In ten carefully crafted chapters, Climate Change offers a synoptic and inter-disciplinary understanding of the idea of climate change from its varied historical and cultural origins; to its construction more recently through scientific endeavour; to the multiple ways in which political, social, and cultural movements in today’s world seek to make sense of and act upon it; to the possible futures of climate, however it may be governed and imagined. The central claim of the book is that the full breadth and power of the idea of climate change can only be grasped from a vantage point that embraces the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. This vantage point is what the book offers, written from the perspective of a geographer whose career work on climate change has drawn across the full range of academic disciplines. The book highlights the work of leading geographers in relation to climate change; examples, illustrations, and case study boxes are drawn from different cultures around the world, and questions are posed for use in class discussions. The book is written as a student text, suitable for disciplinary and inter-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate courses that embrace climate change from within social science and humanities disciplines. Science students studying climate change on inter-disciplinary programmes will also benefit from reading it, as too will the general reader looking for a fresh and distinctive account of climate change.
328 pages, Paperback
Published July 27, 2021
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July 1, 2023
Main arguments
Hulme argues in this book that climate change is multifarious, he states that climate change cannot be solved any more than “freedom” or “democracy” can be resolved. Nonetheless, Hulme further outlines that this does not mean the term climate is one to be discarded. The term carries different meanings, it will evolve in the future, encompassing and adapting to new challenges that arise.
With this pretext, Hulme brings forward three main arguments. Firstly, it is important to challenge simplistic ways of looking into climate change. Secondly, society should be stimulated with different and broader aspects of climate change and what it means incorporating it into contemporary politics. Lastly, Hulme argues that the idea of climate is performative. It is never politically neutral or without effect.
Content and opinion
As part of Routledge’s series “Key Ideas in Geography” the book Climate Change is written in a very accessible and structured manner for students of geography, sociology and anthropology. Split into three sections, the author takes the reader through the history of climate change discussion, current narratives and how future conversations may look like. Each chapter has boxes with concrete examples, summarizing questions, and recommended readings. All these make the book a multi-facetted effective tool for any student working on geographical issues concerning climate change.
The first section focuses on climate histories, geographies and knowledge and takes the reader through an account of intercorrelation of climate change and cultures as well as how they, unavoidably, shift together. Climate change, argues Hulme, is never only a physical behaviour which translates difficulties to the understanding of the phenomenon solely through scientific texts. Since culture presents a big part in the understanding of climate change, it takes a role in shaping the creation of knowledge around the topic. This means the knowledge around climate change is not freed from beliefs and values. Hulme further states that one has to keep in mind that climatic knowledge is broadly shaped by (imperial) superpowers and subaltern knowledge is largely marginalised.
While this might be true, we can interestingly see today that climate negotiations are not necessarily led anymore by imperial superpowers which according to Hulme created most of the climate knowledge. Following the COP 26 negotiations, it was powerful states like China and India which fought for a phrasing that is not as deterministic in the phasing out of coal as an energy source. Which is a display of power, but may also be a sign of mistrust in some of the climate sciences created by the imperial superpowers.
In the second section of the book, Hulme outlines six narratives around climate change. In chapters 3 to 5 he compares narratives which require science for their arguments.
Sceptical contrarianism could be described as showing an absence of adequate concern towards climate change issues. However, their concerns are rooted more broadly in social structures, leading to believes that conservative worldviews are under “attack” by radicals through the pretext of climate change. Reformed modernists, with beliefs such as climate change must and can be arrested, carbon pricing and innovation can accelerate decarbonisation and sustainable economic growth is achievable, they trust in the current system to overcome climate change through a mere reform of the system. Lastly, Hulme describes transformative radicalism which argues for “post-political” discussions on climate action. Through the emphasis of possible dramatic events and climatic tipping points, they highlight the need for more than a mere reformation of the economic system to solutions such as social change, the redefinition of growth and new world orders.
To me, especially the viewpoints of the reformed modernists seem conflicting. They find themselves in a dilemma against time. While they state that reformation and not transformation is key to the solution, due to the lack of time available to transform the system, they are also subscribing to the idea that sustainable economic growth is achievable. Even though currently we do not have the technology for it and it is uncertain if such technologies will ever exist.
In chapters 6 to 8 Hulme describes subaltern voices, creatives and artists, as well as religious engagements. All these have the capability to majorly influence individual perception and trigger action, but the motivation for action may be beyond “science”. It is the first time I have read a book on climate change including these “beyond science” narratives. Tying them into the climate change conversation and understanding how they see their responsibilities and influence on society creates a much broader toolkit for policymakers and social activists.
In the final section, Mike Hulme stresses that the multiscale architecture of climate change governance has become “a regime complex”. Climate governance became a synonym for governing the future which went from little interest, to a mainstream global political discussion. In the end, the question remains how will our climate and planet change? Any social group and geography may have a different idea, and may also have substantially different destinies. Imagination for the future should not only be left to “climate”, otherwise many aspects of life will be left out of the discussion.
Hulme argues in this book that climate change is multifarious, he states that climate change cannot be solved any more than “freedom” or “democracy” can be resolved. Nonetheless, Hulme further outlines that this does not mean the term climate is one to be discarded. The term carries different meanings, it will evolve in the future, encompassing and adapting to new challenges that arise.
With this pretext, Hulme brings forward three main arguments. Firstly, it is important to challenge simplistic ways of looking into climate change. Secondly, society should be stimulated with different and broader aspects of climate change and what it means incorporating it into contemporary politics. Lastly, Hulme argues that the idea of climate is performative. It is never politically neutral or without effect.
Content and opinion
As part of Routledge’s series “Key Ideas in Geography” the book Climate Change is written in a very accessible and structured manner for students of geography, sociology and anthropology. Split into three sections, the author takes the reader through the history of climate change discussion, current narratives and how future conversations may look like. Each chapter has boxes with concrete examples, summarizing questions, and recommended readings. All these make the book a multi-facetted effective tool for any student working on geographical issues concerning climate change.
The first section focuses on climate histories, geographies and knowledge and takes the reader through an account of intercorrelation of climate change and cultures as well as how they, unavoidably, shift together. Climate change, argues Hulme, is never only a physical behaviour which translates difficulties to the understanding of the phenomenon solely through scientific texts. Since culture presents a big part in the understanding of climate change, it takes a role in shaping the creation of knowledge around the topic. This means the knowledge around climate change is not freed from beliefs and values. Hulme further states that one has to keep in mind that climatic knowledge is broadly shaped by (imperial) superpowers and subaltern knowledge is largely marginalised.
While this might be true, we can interestingly see today that climate negotiations are not necessarily led anymore by imperial superpowers which according to Hulme created most of the climate knowledge. Following the COP 26 negotiations, it was powerful states like China and India which fought for a phrasing that is not as deterministic in the phasing out of coal as an energy source. Which is a display of power, but may also be a sign of mistrust in some of the climate sciences created by the imperial superpowers.
In the second section of the book, Hulme outlines six narratives around climate change. In chapters 3 to 5 he compares narratives which require science for their arguments.
Sceptical contrarianism could be described as showing an absence of adequate concern towards climate change issues. However, their concerns are rooted more broadly in social structures, leading to believes that conservative worldviews are under “attack” by radicals through the pretext of climate change. Reformed modernists, with beliefs such as climate change must and can be arrested, carbon pricing and innovation can accelerate decarbonisation and sustainable economic growth is achievable, they trust in the current system to overcome climate change through a mere reform of the system. Lastly, Hulme describes transformative radicalism which argues for “post-political” discussions on climate action. Through the emphasis of possible dramatic events and climatic tipping points, they highlight the need for more than a mere reformation of the economic system to solutions such as social change, the redefinition of growth and new world orders.
To me, especially the viewpoints of the reformed modernists seem conflicting. They find themselves in a dilemma against time. While they state that reformation and not transformation is key to the solution, due to the lack of time available to transform the system, they are also subscribing to the idea that sustainable economic growth is achievable. Even though currently we do not have the technology for it and it is uncertain if such technologies will ever exist.
In chapters 6 to 8 Hulme describes subaltern voices, creatives and artists, as well as religious engagements. All these have the capability to majorly influence individual perception and trigger action, but the motivation for action may be beyond “science”. It is the first time I have read a book on climate change including these “beyond science” narratives. Tying them into the climate change conversation and understanding how they see their responsibilities and influence on society creates a much broader toolkit for policymakers and social activists.
In the final section, Mike Hulme stresses that the multiscale architecture of climate change governance has become “a regime complex”. Climate governance became a synonym for governing the future which went from little interest, to a mainstream global political discussion. In the end, the question remains how will our climate and planet change? Any social group and geography may have a different idea, and may also have substantially different destinies. Imagination for the future should not only be left to “climate”, otherwise many aspects of life will be left out of the discussion.
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