climate change talk on Friday

As if there wasn't enough to do on Friday, here's another talk of interest:

   The speaker for [the philosophy] departmental colloquium on Friday of this week is our own Alexandria Poole.  Her subject centers upon an issue of interest to all of us: climate change, its deniers and those who suffer the consequences.  Please plan to join us for what will be an engaging talk by a valued colleague.  The colloquium meets in EESAT room 115 Friday April 18, 3:30-5:00pm.  The full topic and abstract follows.

Best wishes,

George James

Topic

Acknowledging Climate Change Denial and Climate Refugees:

 Plural Epistemologies in the Climate Change Debate

Abstract

The existence, impacts and risks of climate change remains controversial in the political arena of the United States, despite the nation being the second significant contributor of global emissions and highest contributor per capita in the world. In sharp contrast, the number of climate refugees continues to grow as these impacts are felt in vulnerable areas, such as coastal regions and island nations—even though these communities contribute very little to the causes of climate change.  These increasing pressures make evident the urgency to bridge and negotiate between the distinct, multiple, and often conflicting epistemological views regarding climate change and its risks to humans, the environment, and biodiversity. This paper aims to build epistemological bridges within the climate change debate by exploring the tension between those who do not think that climate change is a serious threat or have “climate change denial” and those communities who cannot escape the impacts of the rapidly changing environment of the “anthropocene.”

Yet, before we can even begin to navigate the complex issues involved with accountability and management of the drivers of climate change, we must first ensure that our framework enables the articulation of all perspectives that are participating in this discussion, so that we all are speaking at the same table. The Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) has developed a methodological toolkit that is designed to both articulate and monitor concerns for these indigenous groups, but to do so in such a way that translates to scientific and academic research communities as well. The IPCCA toolkit identifies epistemological bridges to communicate the impacts of climate change and loss for indigenous communities, including: Self-determination, Climate Justice, Food Sovereignty, Endogenous Development, Adaptation, Mitigation andBuenVivir. This paper reviews these principles within the context of urban and buffered communities, who are mediated from the direct impacts of climate change, in an attempt to identify “epistemological bridges” between diverse perspectives within the climate change debate. Such bridges may aid individuals who otherwise deny or ignore climate change to become aware of their role in bringing about this imposing reality.