PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Climate change is considered to be global in at least two respects: it firstly denotes social-ecological processes affecting the whole world and secondly refers to a scientific body of knowledge claiming universal validity. Climate change, however, is not directly perceptible; knowledge about its causes and effects has to be mediated and can only become socially relevant at particular local sites if it connects to general life experiences and culture-specific patterns of interpreting the environment. Against this background, one might question the supposed global distribution and acceptance of climate change knowledge beyond academia. Drawing upon current experiences of the junior research group Climate Worlds, this chapter queries the prospects of climate change for becoming a globally shared issue of concern, paying particular attention to the role of social and cultural sciences in climate change research. It argues against an equation of physical and social facts of climate change and the disciplinary self-limitation to the study of mitigation and adaption strategies. In this regard, the parallels between the current shape of climate change-related social and cultural studies and the research tradition within the modernisation paradigm will be highlighted. The last part of the chapter finally explores the potentials of ethnography for developing a non-nostrifying approach to comparing distinct “climate cultures.” In respect thereof the notions of culture and belonging will be refined from a cross-linked ethnographic perspective.