Geoengineering, the idea of addressing climate change through large-scale technological projects, is a unique example of a contested emerging technology. It stands out in the degree to which both 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 media journalism, and congressional hearings. Brynna Jacobson explores how science policy reports from distinguished scientific societies have constructed certain notions of legitimacy around geoengineering as well as how narratives within news coverage have shaped the public discourse and understanding of geoengineering. The book further demonstrates that 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.
Brynna Jacobson teaches as part-time faculty in the Department of Sociology at the University of San Francisco.
Acknowledgments Acronyms Section I: Climate, Geoengineering, Risk, and Modernity Introduction: Climate Crisis, Global Risk, and Geoengineering Chapter 1: Risk, Climate Politics, and the Challenge of Reflexive Modernization Section II: Scientific Discourse and the Construction of Legitimacy Chapter 2: Science Policy Reports and the Framing of Geoengineering Chapter 3: Science Policy Reports and the Construction of Legitimacy: Research, Actors, and Public Engagement Section III: Journalism and Presenting Geoengineering to the Public Chapter 4: Geoengineering Presented to the Public: Narratives and Trends in News Media, 1991-2016 Chapter 5: News Media Framing and Discursive Presentation of Geoengineering Section IV: Congressional Hearings Chapter 6: Geoengineering in the Political Sphere: Congressional Hearings, 2009-2017 Section V: Technology and Reflexivity Conclusion: Interconnections, High Technology, and Reflexive Modernization References About the Author
"Brynna Jacobson offers a comprehensive analysis of the discourses surrounding geoengineering (GE). Jacobson examines key issues, including the increasing normalization of GE, the linkage between research and deployment, and whose voices are dominant and whose are ignored. Most importantly, Jacobson shows how powerful actors vested in an ever-growing and carbon-intensive economy have replaced much of their efforts focused on promoting climate denial and skepticism with efforts to promote GE as the answer to the climate crisis. This is a timely book that should be of interest to scholars, students, and all concerned citizens." -- Diana Stuart, Northern Arizona University "Brynna Jacobson provides a reflexive analysis of the paradoxes that geoengineering evokes, refreshing in its account of the wider societal culture in which a narrative on how to 'solve' climate change through technological intervention could emerge." -- Ina Moeller, Wageningen University & Research "If you're interested in understanding why there is so little movement on climate change in the USA, then this is a must read. Focusing on policy debates around geoengineering, Brynna Jacobson unpacks the popular and policy narratives that transform geoengineering from a fringe interest into a major techno-fix in climate policy. Jacobson shows how this cheerleading for geoengineering ends up stymying climate action." -- Kean Birch, Associate Professor, York University, Canada
