Geoengineering Discourse Confronting Climate Change: The Move from Margins to Mainstream in Science, News Media, and Politics [Paperback]

Geoengineering, the idea of addressing climate change through large-scale technological projects, stands out among contested technologies in the degree to which its scope of possibilities and its premise are characterized by global existential risks. Despite controversy, this field has been shifting toward mainstream consideration. Geoengineering Discourse Confronting Climate Change: The Move from Margins to Mainstream in Science, News Media, and Politics examines the trajectory of geoengineering through critical discourse analysis of three key genres: science policy reports, news journalism, and congressional hearings. Brynna Jacobson explores how reports from distinguished scientific societies have constructed certain notions of legitimacy around geoengineering, how narratives within news coverage have reflected and shaped the public discourse and understanding of geoengineering, and how geoengineering has garnered political support from both major political parties in the United States. Through analysis of discursive conventions within these genres, the author reveals the evolution of notions of normalcy, legitimacy, and imperative around the field of geoengineering.Brynna Jacobson teaches as part-time faculty in the Department of Sociology at the University of San Francisco.

Is the possibility of geoengineering (i.e., carbon sequestration combined with atmospheric intervention) a welcome solution to the threat of climate change, or is it merely a smokescreen to allow further use of fossil fuels? Jacobson explores this and many other salient questions in this timely, well-researched book. The author is a sociologist, and this book is written as a high-level sociological critique, using techniques of discourse analysis against what the author posits as key genres, i.e., science policy writing, news media articles, and congressional hearing transcripts, covering the period 19912017&. The text features extensive references and a useful index. Highly recommendel£­