A tangible point of reference : how to transform the obstructive public attitude towards climate change in the United States?

Abstract: The scientific consensus on climate change is clear, but the social consensus in the United States has yet to concur. Mainstream explanations for the failure of the American public to engage the climate change problem often refer to an information deficit or lacking political will, but have not proven sufficient in accounting for such behavior. A deeper look reveals that the problem lies at the socio-cultural level, where an obstructive cultural-hegemony influences American civil society’s engagement with climate change and maintains the undesirable status quo. Understanding how and when it may be possible to overcome this hegemony is essential for developing increased social support for addressing climate change. Utilizing a neo-Gramscian approach, and combining contributions from a substantial literature review, critical realism, and evidence from the field, I suggest that climate-related disasters may prove extremely effective in calling into question this obstructive cultural-hegemony and may provide opportunities for bridging the social and scientific divide. However, experience alone is not enough, and relevant and credible intervention may prove crucial in achieving a convergence of the social and scientific perspectives. These conclusions highlight the need for context specific strategies in climate change activism and further support the call for transdisciplinarity in problem-driven and action-oriented research fields like Sustainability Science.