A transformational approach to the climate crisis in the social sciences

Abstract

This panel was spurred in response to the observation that large parts of the social science literature engage in detailed discussions on the provision and design of policy instruments which rely to a large extent on technological innovation and efficiency gains to curb the climate crisis.iii This research approach is problematic in that it does not consider the scaleiv or potential limits of such strategies to achieve net-zero, nor the complex, intersecting causes and consequences of the climate crisis.v By neglecting these aspects, this approach reifies existing injustices and structures in our economic, social and political system which, in effect, pushes questions of (climate) justice, biodiversity, planetary boundaries, pre-existing power dynamics, social norms, ethics and historical legacies to the fringes of research on the climate crisis. Additionally, such research often takes continued growth and economic development as a given, a preface which should otherwise be critically reflected on and questioned in of itself.

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