Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics
This article charts the development of a label that appeared early on in Australian debates on climate change, namely ‘greenhouse sceptics’. We explore who uses the label, for what purposes and with which effects, and how this label may contribute to the development of social representations in the...
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| Format: | Article |
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Sage
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31651/ |
| _version_ | 1848794245215813632 |
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| author | Jaspal, Rusi Nerlich, Brigitte Van Vuuren, Kitty |
| author_facet | Jaspal, Rusi Nerlich, Brigitte Van Vuuren, Kitty |
| author_sort | Jaspal, Rusi |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article charts the development of a label that appeared early on in Australian debates on climate change, namely ‘greenhouse sceptics’. We explore who uses the label, for what purposes and with which effects, and how this label may contribute to the development of social representations in the climate debate. Our findings show that over the last 25 years, ‘greenhouse sceptic’ has been used by journalists and climate scientists to negativize those criticizing mainstream climate science, but that it has also been used, even embraced, by Australian climate sceptics to label themselves in order to construct a positive identity modelled on celebrity sceptics in the United States. We found that the label was grounded in religious metaphors that frame mainstream science as a catastrophist and alarmist religious cult. Overall, this article provides detailed insights into the genealogy of climate scepticism in a particular cultural and historical context. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31651 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:07Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Sage |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-316512020-05-04T17:08:45Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31651/ Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics Jaspal, Rusi Nerlich, Brigitte Van Vuuren, Kitty This article charts the development of a label that appeared early on in Australian debates on climate change, namely ‘greenhouse sceptics’. We explore who uses the label, for what purposes and with which effects, and how this label may contribute to the development of social representations in the climate debate. Our findings show that over the last 25 years, ‘greenhouse sceptic’ has been used by journalists and climate scientists to negativize those criticizing mainstream climate science, but that it has also been used, even embraced, by Australian climate sceptics to label themselves in order to construct a positive identity modelled on celebrity sceptics in the United States. We found that the label was grounded in religious metaphors that frame mainstream science as a catastrophist and alarmist religious cult. Overall, this article provides detailed insights into the genealogy of climate scepticism in a particular cultural and historical context. Sage 2015-05-08 Article PeerReviewed Jaspal, Rusi, Nerlich, Brigitte and Van Vuuren, Kitty (2015) Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics. Public Understanding of Science, 25 (7). pp. 807-824. ISSN 1361-6609 climate change media identity scepticism Australia http://pus.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/05/07/0963662515584287.refs doi:10.1177/0963662515584287 doi:10.1177/0963662515584287 |
| spellingShingle | climate change media identity scepticism Australia Jaspal, Rusi Nerlich, Brigitte Van Vuuren, Kitty Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title | Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title_full | Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title_fullStr | Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title_short | Embracing and resisting climate identities in the Australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| title_sort | embracing and resisting climate identities in the australian press: sceptics, scientists and politics |
| topic | climate change media identity scepticism Australia |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31651/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31651/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31651/ |