INVESTIGADORES
NOEL Gabriel David
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The Cultural Grounds of Concern: Some Conceptual Tools for Understanding Positions towards Climate Change and its Consequences
Autor/es:
GABRIEL D. NOEL
Lugar:
Torquay, Victoria, Australia
Reunión:
Workshop; 40 South: Science, Arts and Environments in Distress; 2009
Institución organizadora:
Monash University, Melbourne
Resumen:
The
main goal of this paper is to discuss, from an anthropological point of view,
some assumptions underlying discussions on climatic change that may hinder the
process of effective claim-building from those of us concerned with the process
and its consequences. Following the pioneering work of Mary Douglas on
culturally framed perceptions of risk and Joel Bests perspectives on the
genesis of social problems, we will show that effective agenda-setting involves
more than building awareness with rational arguments about an obvious
problem. Since both definitions of what a problem is and evaluations about its
urgency and seriousness are mediated by cultural repertories, we need to pay
special attention to the premises upon which these perceptions are built. This
implies, in turn, to analyze the moral grounds that different kinds of actors
use to evaluate and adjudicate priorities for both individual and collective
action. That knowledge should enable us to build more effective strategies and
initiatives that make sense from the point of view of the different kinds of
actors we would like to persuade and get involved in a global agenda to address
the problems and challenges presented by climatic change.