Anatomy of Dissent: A Cultural Analysis of Climate Skepticism
Based on findings from ethnographic analysis of U.S. climate scientists, this article
identifies largely unrecognized sociocultural dimensions underpinning differences in
scientists’ perceptions of anthropogenic climate change. It argues that culturally laden
tensions among scientists have influenced some to engage with the antienvironmental
movement and, as such, influence U.S. climate science politics. The tensions are rooted
in broad-based and ongoing changes within U.S. science and society since the 1960s
and propelled by specific scientific subgroups’ negative experiences of the rise of
environmentalism and of climate modeling, in particular. Attending to these and other
experience-based cultural dynamics can help refine cultural theory and enhance
understanding of the deeper battles of meaning that propel climate science politics.
Sci-Hub | Anatomy of Dissent. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6), 732–753 | 10.1177/0002764212469799https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/0002764212469799