- Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Simone Rödder
University of Hamburg, Sociology, Faculty Member
- Cornell University, Science and Technology Studies, Department MemberUniversity of Hamburg, Centre for Earth System Science and Sustainability, Faculty Memberadd
- Sociology, Science Communication, Mass media, Sociology of Science, Social Media, Interdisciplinarity, and 15 moreScience and Technology Studies, Computer Networks, Databases, Software, Systems Theory, Climate change policy, Science Policy, Social Studies Of Science, Scholarly Communication, Niklas Luhmann, science and technology studies (STS), Media Sociology, Knowledge Society, Citizen Science, and Chemical Engineeringedit
Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement are among the new climate movements that have come into the public spotlight since 2019. While their successes in agenda-setting are undisputed, conclusions vary on whether and... more
Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement are among the new climate movements that have come into the public spotlight since 2019. While their successes in agenda-setting are undisputed, conclusions vary on whether and how this re-politicizes climate discourses. This article presents a new framework to analyze the dynamics of (de-)politicization along the dimensions of vision, agency and process. Based on a narrative analysis, we compare US movement and media documents from 2019 and identify five key narratives, namely, ‘Evidence First,’ ‘Intergenerational Divide,’ ‘Climate Justice & Intersectionality,’ ‘System Change’ and ‘Political Fight.’ While all movements use politicizing notions, we find that tensions between the dimensions inhibit the articulation of alternative visions of the future. This overall depoliticizing tendency appears to be rooted in process understandings that originate in dominant discursive framings of climate change and of science–policy interfaces – a finding that is informative for climate discourses in general.
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Climate research has established a cultural authority in modelling our future with climate change, and often uses a harmful impacts frame to communicate about climate change and climate futures. This paper investigates the social... more
Climate research has established a cultural authority in modelling our future with climate change, and often uses a harmful impacts frame to communicate about climate change and climate futures. This paper investigates the social constructions of climate futures by analyzing how the harmful impacts frame resonates and is reframed in three social arenasnews media, climate movements, and local communities. Data for this study stems from a larger interdisciplinary project, drawing from content analyses, participant observations, interviews, and a survey. The findings highlight that news media and climate movements reframed the harmful impacts frame only slightly, mostly to generate attention. Members of local communities reframed to a greater extent, making stronger applications to their lifeworlds. The study also points to a lack of connections across the social arenas. Implications for climate change communication will be discussed.
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Societies are becoming increasingly aware that they owe their emergence, wealth and industrialisation to their influence as a geophysical force. Social and environmental scientists have analysed the genesis of this self-reflection and... more
Societies are becoming increasingly aware that they owe their emergence, wealth and industrialisation to their influence as a geophysical force. Social and environmental scientists have analysed the genesis of this self-reflection and pointed to past failures that have led to this predicament. Following the gradually beginning research on differing temporalities, temporal practices and time regimes in the climate change discourse, this article shifts the perspective from past obstacles to possibilities for shaping the future. We historically reconstruct the emergence of interfaces of future co-production and theorise how these enable the imagination, communication and negotiation of climate futures. We conceptualise (1) world organisations as permanent interfaces of future co-production that bring together disparate temporal perspectives, (2) world events as temporary settings that accelerate the production of climate futures, and (3) world objects as mobile webs of meaning that travel between social worlds.
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Introduction: Extinction Rebellion (XR) is one of the central players in climate movements in the United Kingdom. Considering the historical relationship that environmentalists have had with science and scientific knowledge, we examine... more
Introduction: Extinction Rebellion (XR) is one of the central players in climate movements in the United Kingdom. Considering the historical relationship that environmentalists have had with science and scientific knowledge, we examine the current treatment of science in the narrative put forward by XR United Kingdom.
Methods: Using mixed qualitative methods, the group's online press releases for the year 2019 were analysed, alongside fieldwork from 2 weeks spent at the United Nations' climate conference in Glasgow in 2021. The fieldwork data consists of participant observation combined with semi-structured interviews.
Results: The movement's demand to “tell the truth” utilises a narrative established on a fact-based enlightenment. This is complemented by notions of a fixed temporal deadline and predicted societal collapse. We highlight prominent perspectives that came to light and identify three main positions that the activists held with respect to science.
Discussion: The findings show the positioning of science and scientific knowledge as a supreme authority, which acts to depoliticize the discourse and induces reductionism in imagining climate futures. This positioning, combined with the centrality of apocalyptic imagery, hampers the construction of alternative futures and fails to engage meaningfully with climate justice.
Methods: Using mixed qualitative methods, the group's online press releases for the year 2019 were analysed, alongside fieldwork from 2 weeks spent at the United Nations' climate conference in Glasgow in 2021. The fieldwork data consists of participant observation combined with semi-structured interviews.
Results: The movement's demand to “tell the truth” utilises a narrative established on a fact-based enlightenment. This is complemented by notions of a fixed temporal deadline and predicted societal collapse. We highlight prominent perspectives that came to light and identify three main positions that the activists held with respect to science.
Discussion: The findings show the positioning of science and scientific knowledge as a supreme authority, which acts to depoliticize the discourse and induces reductionism in imagining climate futures. This positioning, combined with the centrality of apocalyptic imagery, hampers the construction of alternative futures and fails to engage meaningfully with climate justice.
Following Greta Thunberg's school strike in Stockholm in August 2018 and the October 2018 'declaration of rebellion' by activists in the UK, 2019 saw several climate protest movements rise to public attention, including Fridays for Future... more
Following Greta Thunberg's school strike in Stockholm in August 2018 and the October 2018 'declaration of rebellion' by activists in the UK, 2019 saw several climate protest movements rise to public attention, including Fridays for Future (FFF), Extinction Rebellion (XR), and the US Sunrise Movement. What is striking about them is that they rather bluntly refer to science in their campaigns. In this paper, we present an in-depth and comparative study of how the new climate protest movements relate to scientific evidence. Employing a narrative analysis of different types of data (websites, press releases, and media coverage), we study the movements' understandings of 'the science' as well as of science's role in policy processes. We find that the movements in their initial phase predominantly rely on science for their legitimation and adopt a scientific worldview with very little 'green ambivalence'. Notably, FFF and XR hold a deficit model of existing climate communication and enact roles as science communicators.
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Este artículo busca contribuir a las discusiones cada vez más frecuentes sobre las transformaciones intelectuales, personales y emocionales que experimentan con cada nuevo proyecto de investigación y colaboración quienes realizan trabajo... more
Este artículo busca contribuir a las discusiones cada vez más frecuentes sobre las transformaciones intelectuales, personales y emocionales que experimentan con cada nuevo proyecto de investigación y colaboración quienes realizan trabajo de campo etnográfico en el marco de los Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (ESCyT). A partir de la experiencia de investigar 'insertas' (embedded) en grandes proyectos colaborativos de las ciencias del cambio global, del clima y ambientales, las autoras proponemos la noción de 'devenir' (becoming) para capturar las transformaciones positivas generales que experimentan las/los etnógrafas/os, transformaciones que van más allá de la comprensión un tanto estática y unidimensional que surge del recurso a la noción de ' roles', de uso frecuente en la literatura especializada. Concluimos con algunas observaciones sobre las transformaciones o 'devenires' que también nuestros colaboradores experimentan.
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In recent years, a new wave of climate activist groups, such as Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future and the Sunrise Movement have reshaped public debates on climate action. In so doing they refer to scientific evidence. But, how... more
In recent years, a new wave of climate activist groups, such as Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future and the Sunrise Movement have reshaped public debates on climate action. In so doing they refer to scientific evidence. But, how exactly do they understand science’s relationship to society? Drawing on documentary evidence, Simone Rödder argues that the use of evidence by these groups, especially the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reflects an effective form of science communication, albeit one that leaves hierarchies of scientific knowledge largely intact.
Tsunamis are natural hazards that can have devastating societal impacts. While tsunamis cannot be prevented, their risk to coastal communities can be mitigated through targeted measures such as early warning, evacuation training or... more
Tsunamis are natural hazards that can have devastating societal impacts. While tsunamis cannot be prevented, their risk to coastal communities can be mitigated through targeted measures such as early warning, evacuation training or tsunami-aware spatial planning. The particularities of tsunamis–being rare events with high impact and a short yet operable time span for warning–structure the associated research approaches and sociotechnical innovations. In this paper, we explore interdisciplinary knowledge integration and stakeholder engagement in tsunami science based on interviews with researchers from various tsunami-related fields. We find that the interviewees’ academic identities are typically grounded in a disciplinary core, out of which they subsequently cross boundaries. For all respondents, however, it is a matter of course that becoming and being a member of the tsunami community includes the need to communicate across boundaries. Our results show that the idea of early warning unites the tsunami field. Notably, however, it is not the material technology but the political goal of effective early warning that holds an integrative function across disciplines. Furthermore, we find modelling to be seen as the “backbone of everything” tsunami-related, which in combination with visualisation techniques such as a global map of tsunami risks also serves to integrate stakeholders beyond the tsunami research community. Interviewees mention the interaction between scientists and engineers as the exemplary interdisciplinary collaboration in tsunami science. There were fewer examples of collaborations with social scientists, rendering this a demand rather than a lived reality in current tsunami science. Despite the widely shared view that stakeholder engagement is an important element of tsunami science, respondents emphasise the associated challenges and indicate that this practice is not yet sufficiently institutionalised.
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The working paper examines the UN climate conference (COP26) organised in Glasgow in November 2021 as a transnational mega-event, which constituted not only an important moment in international climate talks, but also a temporary... more
The working paper examines the UN climate conference (COP26) organised in Glasgow in November 2021 as a transnational mega-event, which constituted not only an important moment in international climate talks, but also a temporary convergence point for a multitude of actors and an arena for conflicts and contestation over framing within a broader global policy space. This perspective allows us to offer a view of the current state of global climate politics more comprehensive than those of analyses focused mainly on the negotiations. Using collaborative event ethnography, over two weeks eight researchers identified the material, spatial and social dimensions of the conference. We identify three circles of climate governance, which framed practices, interactions and debates in Glasgow. These comprise an inner circle of state-led negotiations (‘The In’), an official side programme (‘The Off’) and a relatively heterogeneous wider environment of self-organised events (‘The Fringe’). Each circle is populated by a different set of actors and enacts a distinct representation of ‘the global’. Our analysis of dynamics within each of these circles shows that climate governance has entered a new and contradictory phase, where some boundaries are blurred while others are reaffirmed, and where old conflicts resurface while new dividing lines appear. The Paris architecture for reporting and review has been finalised, but thus far the new approach has failed to close gaps between pledges and objectives for mitigation and climate finance. Global political and corporate elites have seemingly come to acknowledge the climate emergency and the need for a global low-carbon transformation, but the solutions proposed in Glasgow remained partial and fragile, and tightly contained within the dominant horizon of capitalist market- and techno-fixes. The communication strategy of the UNFCCC and the UK Presidency used increasingly radical terms to convey urgency and momentum, which in turn risked emptying activist notions of their content and force. A growing part of the climate movement reacted with critiques of corporate takeover and calls for “real zero” instead of “net zero”. In the conclusion, we examine a series of contentious issues and provide avenues for reflection on the future of climate governance.
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Tsunamis are natural hazards that can have devastating societal impacts. While tsunamis cannot be prevented, their risk to coastal communities can be mitigated through targeted measures such as early warning, evacuation training or... more
Tsunamis are natural hazards that can have devastating societal impacts. While tsunamis cannot be prevented, their risk to coastal communities can be mitigated through targeted measures such as early warning, evacuation training or tsunami-aware spatial planning. The particularities of tsunamis – being rare events with high impact and a short yet operable time span for warning – structure the associated research approaches and sociotechnical innovations. In this paper, we explore interdisciplinary knowledge integration and stakeholder engagement in tsunami science based on interviews with researchers from the EU COST action “Accelerating Global science In Tsunami HAzard and Risk analysis”(AGITHAR). We find that the interviewees’ academic identities are typically grounded in a disciplinary core, out of which they subsequently cross boundaries. For all respondents, however, it is a matter of course that becoming and being a member of the tsunami community includes the need to communicate across boundaries. Our results show that the idea of early warning unites the tsunami field. Notably, however, it is not the material technology but the political goal of effective early warning that holds an integrative function across disciplines. Furthermore, we find modelling to be seen as the “backbone of everything” tsunami related, which in combination with visualisation techniques such as a global map of tsunami risks also serves to integrate stakeholders beyond the tsunami research community. Interviewees mention the interaction between scientists and engineers as the exemplary interdisciplinary collaboration in tsunami science. There were fewer examples of collaborations with social scientists, rendering this a demand rather than a lived reality in current tsunami science. Despite the widely shared view that stakeholder engagement is an important element of tsunami science, respondents emphasise the associated challenges and indicate that this practice is not yet sufficiently institutionalised.
Academic air travel (AAT) is increasingly critiqued for its carbon emissions. Based on an initial interest in the relevance, persistence and change of climate-impacting practices like AAT as part of global academic interaction and... more
Academic air travel (AAT) is increasingly critiqued for its carbon emissions. Based on an initial interest in the relevance, persistence and change of climate-impacting practices like AAT as part of global academic interaction and collaboration, this paper presents a literature review to take stock of existing research on AAT. A two-step literature search was conducted, resulting in a range of relevant publications
(N=220). The following areas of interest were identified: first, the relevance that academic travel has in the development of the research university and the international connectivity of modern science.
Second, functions of meetingness and physical copresence in the context of academic communication, scientific exchange and networking appear as the main drivers of AAT, yet characteristics of the
academic career system and labour market as well as tourism aspects play a role, too. Third, discourses around AAT focus on the perceived obligation to fly (“fly or die”), its politicisation with regard to the inequality of access, and justifications for upholding current (pre Covid-19) rates of AAT. Fourth, AAT is increasingly critically discussed in the context of climate change (climatisation). Fifth, alternatives to AAT are discussed, ranging from the use of virtual meetings and the re-organisation of academic conferences to more fundamental changes in the mode of research practices. The review was started before the Covid-19 pandemic brought AAT to an abrupt halt, a situation that now makes researching this social practice particularly timely. We thus conclude that AAT is an emerging and promising area for future research.
(N=220). The following areas of interest were identified: first, the relevance that academic travel has in the development of the research university and the international connectivity of modern science.
Second, functions of meetingness and physical copresence in the context of academic communication, scientific exchange and networking appear as the main drivers of AAT, yet characteristics of the
academic career system and labour market as well as tourism aspects play a role, too. Third, discourses around AAT focus on the perceived obligation to fly (“fly or die”), its politicisation with regard to the inequality of access, and justifications for upholding current (pre Covid-19) rates of AAT. Fourth, AAT is increasingly critically discussed in the context of climate change (climatisation). Fifth, alternatives to AAT are discussed, ranging from the use of virtual meetings and the re-organisation of academic conferences to more fundamental changes in the mode of research practices. The review was started before the Covid-19 pandemic brought AAT to an abrupt halt, a situation that now makes researching this social practice particularly timely. We thus conclude that AAT is an emerging and promising area for future research.
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Im Diskurs um Nachhaltigkeit fehlt bislang eine spezifisch soziologische Perspektive. Gerade angesichts der Vielfalt des Diskurses kann eine "Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit" jedoch unterschied-liche Perspektiven aufeinander beziehen und... more
Im Diskurs um Nachhaltigkeit fehlt bislang eine spezifisch soziologische Perspektive. Gerade angesichts der Vielfalt des Diskurses kann eine "Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit" jedoch unterschied-liche Perspektiven aufeinander beziehen und kritisch auf implizite Prämissen reflektieren. Eine spezifische Herausforderung liegt für die Soziologie darin, sich zu der Problemorientierung sowie zum normativen Charakter der Nachhaltigkeit zu positionieren. Dieser Beitrag macht den Vorschlag, die Perspektivenviel-falt der Soziologie als Stärke zu betrachten, die es angesichts der parallelen Vielfalt der Nachhaltigkeit produktiv zu machen gilt. Als soziologische Zugänge zur Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte gelten dabei solche Ansätze, die sich zur Gleichzeitigkeit von Beobachtungs-und Transformationsorientierung verhalten und-ob mit bereichsspezifischem oder gesellschaftstheoretischem Fokus-zu durchaus pluralen Vermittlungsvor-schlägen kommen. Explorativ mit Blick auf das Feld einer Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit werden fünf derartige Vorschläge exemplarisch vorgestellt: doing sustainability, eine feldtheoretische Analyse, ein wissenschaftssoziologischer Beitrag, epistemische Go-vernance und eine gesellschaftstheoretische Reflexion. Wir verstehen dies als Auftakt für eine Diskussion der "Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit".
Local discourses around the world draw on multiple resources to make sense of a "travelling idea” such as climate change, including direct experiences of extreme weather, mediated reports, educational NGO activities, and pre-existing... more
Local discourses around the world draw on multiple resources to make sense of a "travelling idea” such as climate change, including direct experiences of extreme weather, mediated reports, educational NGO activities, and pre-existing values and belief systems. There is no simple link between scientific literacy, climate change awareness, and a sustainable lifestyle, but complex entanglements of transnational and local discourses and of scientific and other (religious, moral etc.) ways of making sense of climate change. As the case studies show, this entanglement of ways of sense-making results in both localizations of transnational discourses and the climatization of local discourses: aspects of the travelling idea of climate change are well-received, integrated, transformed, or rejected. Our comparison reveals a major factor that shapes the local appropriation of the concept of anthropogenic climate change: the fit of prior local interpretations, norms and practices with travelling ideas influences whether they are likely to be embraced or rejected.
Das politische Leitbild Nachhaltiger Entwicklung mit seiner integralen Verknüpfung von globalen ökologischen und sozialen Problemlagen und der darin liegenden Vision ihrer Lösung, stiftete für eine Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit nicht nur... more
Das politische Leitbild Nachhaltiger Entwicklung mit seiner integralen Verknüpfung von globalen ökologischen und sozialen Problemlagen und der darin liegenden Vision ihrer Lösung, stiftete für eine Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit nicht nur den Anlass, sondern zugleich eine dezidierte normative Orientierung. Inzwischen beobachten wir allerdings eine Veralltäglichung und Pluralisierung von Nachhaltigkeit, sodass nicht mehr umstandslos die Gültigkeit einer geteilten normativen Prämisse voraussetzt werden kann. Die von K.-W. Brand ins Gespräch gebrachte Kennzeichnung einer „zweiten Welle“ soziologischer Nachhaltigkeitsforschung greifen wir auf, ohne aber die Normativität des Brundtland’schen Nachhaltigkeitsbegriffs als Prämisse zu setzen, sondern um für die schon in der „ersten Welle“ aufscheinende Reflexivität als Integrationspunkt zu argumentieren. Zur Untersuchung von Nachhaltigkeitsphänomenen stellen wir eine entsprechende Heuristik vor. Gewendet als Forschungsprogramm kann dies den Kern einer von Brand in den Raum gestellten „zweiten Welle“ der Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit darstellen.
Wir sprechen uns in unserer Replik dafür aus, die Pluralität soziologischer Perspektiven auch und gerade für den Gegenstandsbereich Nachhaltigkeit als Vorteil zu sehen und den Diskurs entsprechend zu gestalten.
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Environmental NGOs play a vital role in public climate communication through their awareness-raising activities and educational campaigns. This commentary points to a potentially problematic implication of their role as climate science... more
Environmental NGOs play a vital role in public climate communication through their awareness-raising activities and educational campaigns. This commentary points to a potentially problematic implication of their role as climate science advocates which includes the general tendency to attribute environmental changes and extreme weather events to climate change. These climate-centric framings, however, may not resonate with the lived experiences and belief systems of local communities, not even in geographically vulnerable areas. I draw on local case studies to show that communities often express a sense of "shared responsibility" between global carbon dioxide emissions and ecologically deleterious local practices such as shrimp farming (in Bangladesh) and cutting trees (in the Philippines). As a consequence, the studies show mismatches between activists' attributions of local circumstances and events, and local communities' ways of knowing their local circumstances.
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With the advent of climate change as a major challenge of our time, Earth system modeling has become highly policy-relevant regulatory science. In this situation, the social mechanisms that play a role in any scientific endeavor become... more
With the advent of climate change as a major challenge of our time, Earth system modeling has become highly policy-relevant regulatory science. In this situation, the social mechanisms that play a role in any scientific endeavor become particularly exposed. By discussing historical, philosophical, and sociological (HPS) aspects of the field's current "cultures of prediction" together with the physical science community in a physical science journal, we aim to provide an entry point into HPS reasoning for climate scientists interested in reflecting on their field and science in general. This paper, first, introduces our perspective on "science as culture" and climate modeling as "regulatory science" and, second, highlights and connects relevant ideas from the three commentaries that follow it. In so doing, we hope to give a fuller picture of climate science, the interplay it engenders between HPS and the physical sciences, the distinctions that it gives rise to as compared to some of the more traditional, exact, sciences in which it is rooted and its place in society including its role in scientific policy advice.
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Der vorliegende Text ist Resultat einer kollektiven Standortbestimmung im Rahmen eines von David Kaldewey und Julian Hamann organisierten und von der Volkswagen Stiftung geförderten Workshops, der im Mai 2017 in Hannover stattfand. Die... more
Der vorliegende Text ist Resultat einer kollektiven Standortbestimmung im Rahmen eines von David Kaldewey und Julian Hamann organisierten und von der Volkswagen Stiftung geförderten Workshops, der im Mai 2017 in Hannover stattfand. Die Teilnehmer der Veranstaltungwaren eingeladen, am Beispiel der eigenen Forschung die Potenziale einer verstärkten Zusammenarbeit von wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung zu reflektieren. Die zentrale Rolle, die dabei der Soziologie zukommt, zeigte hat sich auf dem Workshop schon in der Vorstellungsrunde gezeigt, bei der deutlich wurde, dass sich die Teilnehmenden mehrheitlich als Soziolog/innen und damit nicht entweder als Wissenschaftsforscher/innen oder als Hochschulforscher/innen positionierten (obwohl die institutionellen Zugehörigkeiten dies teilweise nahegelegt hätten). Entsprechend kreisten die Diskussionen eben nicht nur um den Forschungsstand, sondern zeigten sehr schnell soziologisch relevante Forschungsperspektiven auf, die über den Tellerrand der beiden Forschungsfelder hinausreichen. Der in diesem Kreis unternommene Versuch, zukunftsträchtige Themen- und Analyseperspektiven zusammenzuführen, soll als Forschungsagenda und Absichtserklärung verstanden werden, die identifizierten Themen und Fragestellungen alsbald mit Leben zu füllen. Die Teilnehmer/innen des Workshops fungieren als Autor/innenkollektiv. Im Folgenden werden sieben Forschungsagenden vorgestellt, die den Austausch zwischen Wissenschafts- und Hochschulforschung anleiten können, bzw. erst in der Kooperation beider Felder überzeugend zu bearbeiten sind.
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Purpose: This paper looks at science communication through an organisational lens with the aim of assessing the relevance of different organisational forms for science communication. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores... more
Purpose: This paper looks at science communication through an
organisational lens with the aim of assessing the relevance of different organisational forms for science communication.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores science communication in different organisational forms. Based on conceptual considerations and by reviewing existing empirical literature, the paper selects and compares three organisational forms of science communication: the editorial office of a daily newspaper, the press office of a university and the Science Media Centre.
Findings: The paper shows the relevance of organisation for science communication by comparing three organisational forms. The first two, the science news desk and the press office, have the character of a subsystem of an organisation, while the third, the Science Media Centre, forms its own organisation. The paper shows how the respective setup shapes science-media contacts with a focus on the occurrence and resolution of conflicts.
Research limitations/implications: The paper proposes a conceptual framework for studying science communication through an organisational lens but leaves comparative empirical studies of all types to future research. Yet, it outlines and compares implications of the formal organisation of science communication from a conceptual point of view.
Practical implications: The findings provide information on the structural impact of different organisational forms on science communication and point to where conflicting expectations, and thus potential conflicts, are most likely to occur in each case. A reflection of structurally conflicting expectations and how they can be overcome in specific situations is of high practical value for all science communication activities.
Originality/value: Organisational theorists have long argued that organisations are the key to understanding society. Despite their undoubted relevance, however, organisations and their influence on science communication have so far been much less analysedboth conceptually and empiricallythan its contents, its practices and its impacts on public understanding, public policy, and on science and scientists. The paper contributes to the emerging field with conceptual considerations towards an organisational sociology of science communication.
organisational lens with the aim of assessing the relevance of different organisational forms for science communication.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores science communication in different organisational forms. Based on conceptual considerations and by reviewing existing empirical literature, the paper selects and compares three organisational forms of science communication: the editorial office of a daily newspaper, the press office of a university and the Science Media Centre.
Findings: The paper shows the relevance of organisation for science communication by comparing three organisational forms. The first two, the science news desk and the press office, have the character of a subsystem of an organisation, while the third, the Science Media Centre, forms its own organisation. The paper shows how the respective setup shapes science-media contacts with a focus on the occurrence and resolution of conflicts.
Research limitations/implications: The paper proposes a conceptual framework for studying science communication through an organisational lens but leaves comparative empirical studies of all types to future research. Yet, it outlines and compares implications of the formal organisation of science communication from a conceptual point of view.
Practical implications: The findings provide information on the structural impact of different organisational forms on science communication and point to where conflicting expectations, and thus potential conflicts, are most likely to occur in each case. A reflection of structurally conflicting expectations and how they can be overcome in specific situations is of high practical value for all science communication activities.
Originality/value: Organisational theorists have long argued that organisations are the key to understanding society. Despite their undoubted relevance, however, organisations and their influence on science communication have so far been much less analysedboth conceptually and empiricallythan its contents, its practices and its impacts on public understanding, public policy, and on science and scientists. The paper contributes to the emerging field with conceptual considerations towards an organisational sociology of science communication.
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Since Lever-Tracy's call for stronger sociological engagement with climate change in 2008, the number of climate-related contributions to leading sociological journals has increased. Yet, they still represent a small percentage of... more
Since Lever-Tracy's call for stronger sociological engagement with climate change in 2008, the number of climate-related contributions to leading sociological journals has increased. Yet, they still represent a small percentage of contributions overall. Reviewing the 37 articles published in eight top-ranked sociology journals until 2018, the authors
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Schlüsselwörter: Interdisziplinarität, Disziplinen, integrierte Sozialwissenschaft, ‚embedded sociology', Hierarchie, Reflexion
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Rödder, Simone; Taubert, Niels (2019) Von Freud und Leid einer benachbarten Einrichtung. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Weingart. In: Kieserling, André, Werron, Tobias (Hg.): Die Fakultät für Soziologie in Bielefeld. Eine Oral History.... more
Rödder, Simone; Taubert, Niels (2019) Von Freud und Leid einer benachbarten Einrichtung. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Weingart. In: Kieserling, André, Werron, Tobias (Hg.): Die Fakultät für Soziologie in Bielefeld. Eine Oral History. transcript, Bielefeld, 55-67.
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How can we understand climate change from a sociological perspective? In asking this question, we assume that Sociology has something to contribute to such an enterprise. The argument that we put forward is twofold: We argue that... more
How can we understand climate change from a sociological perspective? In asking this question, we assume that Sociology has something to contribute to such an enterprise. The argument that we put forward is twofold: We argue that Sociology provides a much needed alternative to two dominant approaches that have influenced public discourse, behaviorist theories, mainly employed in Economics, and a belief in the centrality of science in policy making ("evidence first"), mainly entertained by physical scientists. We critically discuss both approaches, showing the limits of behaviorism and the linear model of policy making and provide an alternative framework, which emphasizes the role of social action, of organizations, and of structural differences between different social worlds. We then apply our framework to assess the role of evidence at the climate science-policy interface and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a boundary organization in particular. We argue that science and politics follow different logics and that the IPCC is simultaneously both more political and less policy relevant than its self-description as "policy-relevant, never policy prescriptive" tries to make us believe. We conclude that a depoliticization of politics by IPCC expert advice and a politicization of climate science occur simultaneously and mutually reinforce one another. The result is a lack of progress in climate policy as science has taken center stage but is unable to offer political solutions.
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proceeds on the assumption that scientific consensus is a tool for successful climate communication. While 'speaking with one voice' has contributed to the Panel's success in putting... more
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proceeds on the assumption that scientific consensus is a tool for successful climate communication. While 'speaking with one voice' has contributed to the Panel's success in putting climate change on the public and political agenda, the consensus policy is also contested, as our literature analysis (n=106) demonstrates. The arguments identified thereby inform a survey of climate scientists (n=138), who are the ones responsible for realising the policy. The data indicate moderate support for the consensus policy but significantly more in traditional climate sciences than in social sciences, life-and geosciences. Abstract Environmental communication; Science and policy-making Keywords https://doi.
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Social network analysis is playing an increasingly important role in sociological studies. At the same time, new technologies such as wearable sensors make it possible to collect new types of social network data. We employed RFID tags to... more
Social network analysis is playing an increasingly important role in sociological studies. At the same time, new technologies such as wearable sensors make it possible to collect new types of social network data. We employed RFID tags to capture face-to-face interactions of participants of two consecutive Ph.D. retreats of a graduate school on climate research. We use this data in order to explore how it may support ethnographic observations and to gain further insights on scholarly interactions. The unique feature of the data is the opportunity to distinguish short and long conversations, which often have a different nature from a sociological point of view. Furthermore, an advantage of this data is the availability of socio-demographic, research-related, and situational attributes of participants. We show that, even though an interaction partner is often found rather randomly during coffee breaks of retreats, a strong homophily between participants from the same institutions or research areas exists. We identify cores of the networks and participants who play ambassador roles between communities, e.g., persons who visit the retreat for the second time are more likely to be ambassadors. Overall, we show the usefulness and potential of RFID tags for scientometric studies.
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Seit etwa 25 Jahren werden in Deutschland strukturierte Promotionsprogramme etabliert. Typische Strukturen sind ein Studienprogramm, ein Kursangebot für soft skills und die Betreuung durch mehrere Ansprechpartner/-innen in Form von... more
Seit etwa 25 Jahren werden in Deutschland strukturierte Promotionsprogramme etabliert. Typische Strukturen sind ein Studienprogramm, ein Kursangebot für soft skills und die Betreuung durch mehrere Ansprechpartner/-innen in Form von Advisory Panels, die die formale und fachliche Qualität des Promotionsverlaufs sicherstellen sollen. Besonders in der interdisziplinären Ausbildung junger Wissenschaftler/-innen sind sol-che Modelle beliebt, da sie unterschiedliche disziplinäre Perspektiven in die Betreuung integrieren können. Dieser Text möchte zur Debatte um die strukturierte Promotionsausbildung beitragen, indem erste empirische Ergebnisse einer Langzeitbeobachtung von Promotionspanels in der Klimaforschung präsentiert werden. Konkret wurden fünf Doktorand/-innen über die Dauer ihrer Promotion begleitet und insbesondere die Treffen ihrer Advisory Panel beobachtet und analysiert. Die Nachwuchs-Studie ist Teil eines umfassenderen Forschungsprojekts zur Ausgestaltung interdisziplinärer Zusammenarbeit in der Klimaforschung.
Der Beitrag ist wie folgt gegliedert: Im anschließenden Abschnitt wird unsere Forschung in den Kontext der strukturierten Promotionsausbildung eingebettet. Im dritten Teil werden kurz die Methoden der Datenerhebung und -auswertung vorgestellt. Der Hauptfokus liegt auf dem vierten Teil, dem Einblick in die Innenwelt des Promotionswesens: Hier wird eine Typologie von Advisory Panels vorgestellt, die sich aus den Beobachtungen abstrahieren lässt. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse zusammengefasst.
Der Beitrag ist wie folgt gegliedert: Im anschließenden Abschnitt wird unsere Forschung in den Kontext der strukturierten Promotionsausbildung eingebettet. Im dritten Teil werden kurz die Methoden der Datenerhebung und -auswertung vorgestellt. Der Hauptfokus liegt auf dem vierten Teil, dem Einblick in die Innenwelt des Promotionswesens: Hier wird eine Typologie von Advisory Panels vorgestellt, die sich aus den Beobachtungen abstrahieren lässt. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse zusammengefasst.
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The ability to conduct interdisciplinary research is crucial to address complex real-world problems that require the collaboration of different scientific fields, with global warming being a case in point. To produce integrated... more
The ability to conduct interdisciplinary research is crucial to address complex real-world problems that require the collaboration of different scientific fields, with global warming being a case in point. To produce integrated climate-related knowledge, climate researchers should be trained early on to work across boundaries and gain an understanding of diverse disciplinary perspectives. This article argues for social breaching as a methodology to introduce students with a natural science background to the social sciences in the context of integrated climate sciences. The breach of a social norm presented here was to ask people whether the experimenter could ride on an elevator alone. We conclude that the approach is effective in letting students with a natural science background explore and experience the power of social reality, and is especially suitable for a small-sized introductory class.
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Zusammenfassung: Im Diskurs um Nachhaltigkeit fehlt bislang eine spezifisch soziologische Perspektive. Gerade angesichts der Vielfalt des Diskurses kann eine " Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit " jedoch diese beitragen, indem sie... more
Zusammenfassung: Im Diskurs um Nachhaltigkeit fehlt bislang eine spezifisch soziologische Perspektive. Gerade angesichts der Vielfalt des Diskurses kann eine " Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit " jedoch diese beitragen, indem sie unterschiedliche Perspektiven aufeinander bezieht und kritisch auf impli-zite Prämissen der Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte reflektiert. Eine spezifische Herausforderung liegt für die Soziologie jedoch darin, sich zu der Problemorientierung sowie zum normativen Cha-rakter der Nachhaltigkeit zu positionieren. Dieser Beitrag macht den Vorschlag, die Perspek-tivenvielfalt der Soziologie als Stärke zu betrachten, die es angesichts der parallelen Vielfalt der Nachhaltigkeit produktiv zu machen gilt. Als soziologische Zugänge zur Nachhaltigkeits-debatte gelten dabei solche Ansätze, die sich zur Gleichzeitigkeit von Beobachtungs-und Transformationsorientierung verhalten und – ob mit bereichsspezifischem oder gesellschafts-theoretischem Fokus – zu durchaus pluralen Vermittlungsvorschlägen kommen. Explorativ mit Blick auf das Feld einer Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit werden fünf derartige Vorschläge exemplarisch vorgestellt: doing sustainability, eine feldtheoretische Analyse, ein wissen-schaftssoziologischer Beitrag, epistemische Governance und eine gesellschaftstheoretische Reflexion. Wir verstehen dies als Auftakt für eine Diskussion der " Soziologie der Nachhaltig-keit ". Summary: This paper proceeds on the assumption that a specifically sociological perspective is lacking in the discourse on sustainability. However, especially in view of the diversity of this discourse , a " sociology of sustainability " may offer new insights by contributing different perspectives and critically reflecting on the implicit premises of the sustainability debate. A specific challenge for sociology is to position itself with regard to the problem-orientation as well as the normative character of sustainability. This contribution proposes to consider the perspective rich diversity of sociology as a strength, which, as it applies to the parallel diversity of sustainability, can be made very productive. Sociological approaches applicable to the sustainability debate are those that bear upon the simultaneity of observation and orientation of transformation – whether with an area-specific or societal-theoretical focus – and arrive at thoroughly plural mediation proposals. This paper introduces five such proposals as exploratory examples for a sociology of sustainability: doing sustainability, a field theoretical analysis , a contribution from the sociology of science, epistemic governance and a societal-theoretical reflection. We understand this as a prelude to a discussion regarding the coming sociology of sustainability. Autor*innenangaben
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This paper reports experiences from an art-science project set up in an educational context as well as in the tradition of placing artists in labs. It documents artists' and scientists' imaginations of their encounter and analyses them... more
This paper reports experiences from an art-science project set up in an educational context as well as in the tradition of placing artists in labs. It documents artists' and scientists' imaginations of their encounter and analyses them drawing on the concepts of ''boundary object'' and ''boundary work''. Conceptually, the paper argues to broaden the idea of boundary objects to include inhibitory boundary objects that hinder rather than facilitate communication across boundaries. This focus on failures to link social worlds brings the boundary object concept closer to Gieryn's boundary work and allows for a co-application of the two concepts in the analysis of cross-boundary communication. Empirically, the paper provides an in-depth ethnographic description of an art-science project as a resource for future practice. In conclusion, the art-science encounter included meeting points as well as multiple levels of boundary work which engaged the artists in a different way than as illustrators of scientific representations of climate change. The closer they got to the research practice the more the public and policy construct of climate change disappeared. Rather than political activism, the approach triggered explorations of the scientific context, including affirmative as well as critical re-imaginations of research practices. Artists and scientists acted as publics for one another, as resources to draw on for reflection and self-identification. But instead of cutting back or renegotiating standards of one's own practice, especially the artists engaged in boundary work creating space to produce a piece of art according to their own criteria of quality and relevance.
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In der Diagnose, die moderne Gesellschaft sei eine ‚Gesellschaft von Organisationen' drückt sich die Bedeutung formaler Organisation für gesellschaftlich relevante Kommunikationsprozesse aus. Dies gilt auch für die... more
In der Diagnose, die moderne Gesellschaft sei eine ‚Gesellschaft von Organisationen' drückt sich die Bedeutung formaler Organisation für gesellschaftlich relevante Kommunikationsprozesse aus. Dies gilt auch für die Wissenschaftskommunikation: Das Wissenschaftsressort füllt die Wissensseite der Tageszeitung, Universitäten geben Pressemitteilungen heraus und Forscher und Forscherinnen werden in Medientrainings auf die Anforderungen medienöffentlicher Kommunikation vorbereitet. Dieser Beitrag befasst sich aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive mit den Grundlagen organisierter Wissenschaftsdarstellung und beschreibt und ordnet an ihr typischerweise beteiligte Organisationen. Argumentiert wird, dass die Relevanz von Organisationen für die Wissenschaftskommunikation am besten durch einen Vergleich dreier Organisationsformen herausgearbeitet werden kann, von denen die beiden ersten den Charakter eines Teilsystems einer Organisation haben, während der dritte eine eigene Organisation bildet: die Wissenschaftsredaktion einer Tageszeitung, die Pressestelle einer Forschungseinrichtung und der neue Organisationstyp des Science Media Centre. Anhand dieser Typologie lassen sich einige Funktionen und Folgen der Organisation von Wissenschaftskommunikation aufzeigen.
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This set of comments reports experiences from a recent “science-meets-arts”-project in Germany, in which students from the University of fine Arts in Hamburg (HFBK) shared day-to-day life in climate research groups for several months. The... more
This set of comments reports experiences from a recent “science-meets-arts”-project in Germany, in which students from the University of fine Arts in Hamburg (HFBK) shared day-to-day life in climate research groups for several months. The project was envisioned as a process of mutual irritation and inspiration with the aim of producing a joint exhibition and symposium at the end. This paper introduces the project as well as the subsequent commentaries and also presents my own observations and conclusions.
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The Science Media Centre (SMC) is a new type of organisation at the science–media interface that acts like a press office and supports newsrooms. The first SMC was founded in 2002 in the UK, but, despite its supposed success, its impact... more
The Science Media Centre (SMC) is a new type of organisation at the science–media interface that acts like a press office and supports newsrooms. The first SMC was founded in 2002 in the UK, but, despite its supposed success, its impact on public debates has so far hardly been studied. Based on theoretical considerations and an interview study, this paper argues that the SMC can be understood as a public policy instrument to secure science’s licence to practice. As a technical fix to the social problem of a ‘crisis of public trust in science’, the SMC acts as an emergency press office in science- and technology-intensive controversies. Its deficit model-informed communication policy is that the political is technical, the technical should be evidence-based and this evidence should come from scientific experts. The implications for public debates are considered.
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Franzen, Martina; Rödder, Simone (2013): Die Herstellung und Darstellung von Wissen unter Medialisierungsbedingungen. Eine vergleichende Betrachtung von Mathematik, Zeitgeschichte und Molekularbiologie. In: Grande, E.; Jansen, D.; Jarren,... more
Franzen, Martina; Rödder, Simone (2013): Die Herstellung und Darstellung von Wissen unter Medialisierungsbedingungen. Eine vergleichende Betrachtung von Mathematik, Zeitgeschichte und Molekularbiologie. In: Grande, E.; Jansen, D.; Jarren, O.; Rip, A.; Schimank, U.; Weingart, P. (Hg.): Neue Governance der Wissenschaft - Wissenschaftspolitik, Re-Organisation des Wissenschaftssystems und ihre Medialisierung, Bielefeld: transcript, S. 337–361.
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Die Beziehung der Wissenschaft zu den Massenmedien ist verstärkt seit den 1980er Jahren Gegenstand der Wissenschaftsforschung. Empirische Studien haben gezeigt, dass sich die mediale Beobachtung der Wissenschaft in den vergangenen Jahren... more
Die Beziehung der Wissenschaft zu den Massenmedien ist verstärkt seit den 1980er Jahren Gegenstand der Wissenschaftsforschung. Empirische Studien haben gezeigt, dass sich die mediale Beobachtung der Wissenschaft in den vergangenen Jahren intensiviert hat, und viele Forscher interessieren sich für deren Inhalte, Akteure und thematischen Kontextualisierungen.
This chapter outlines the problem that the Yearbook volume addresses – the science/mass media relation in modern societies – and introduces the medialization concept as an approach to the study of mass media related changes in science... more
This chapter outlines the problem that the Yearbook volume addresses – the science/mass media relation in modern societies – and introduces the medialization concept as an approach to the study of mass media related changes in science both with regard to its institutional and epistemic characteristics. From a differentiation theory perspective we propose to shift from using “knowledge” as a basic concept to “communication” as a superior analytical distinction between science and other social spheres because focusing on communication brings different publics as its reference into the picture. This perspective allows sharpening the question which kinds of mutual relations between different systems really lead to the disappearance of one or the other, i.e. to a blurring of boundaries between science and the media. It enables the analyst to distinguish between any adaptations to “external” expectations and to locate them in organisations, roles or interactions. The central question is if the effects of science’s orientation towards the media – by incorporating mass media related criteria of relevance into communication strategies – remain limited to activities on the front stage produced just for public view or if they extend to the back stage, thus affecting the criteria of relevance in knowledge production.
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Environmental mega conferences have become the format of choice in environmental governance. Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under the climate change and biodiversity conventions in particular attract global media attention and an... more
Environmental mega conferences have become the format of choice in environmental governance. Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under the climate change and biodiversity conventions in particular attract global media attention and an ever-growing number of increasingly diverse actors, including scholars of global environmental politics. They are arenas for interstate negotiation, but also temporary interfaces that constitute and represent world society, and they focalise global struggles over just and sustainable futures. Collaborative event ethnography (CEE) as a research methodology emerged as a response to these developments. This volume retraces its genealogy, explains its conceptual and methodological foundations and presents insights into its practice. It is meant as an introduction for students, an overview for curious newcomers to the field, and an invitation for experienced researchers wishing to experiment with a new method.
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Während Klimaforschung lange als rein naturwissenschaftliches Unterfangen galt, wird sie zunehmend auch in den Sozialwissenschaften betrieben. Die Popularisierung in und außerhalb der Wissenschaft hat dabei nicht nur zu neuen... more
Während Klimaforschung lange als rein naturwissenschaftliches Unterfangen galt, wird sie zunehmend auch in den Sozialwissenschaften betrieben. Die Popularisierung in und außerhalb der Wissenschaft hat dabei nicht nur zu neuen Problembezügen geführt, sondern auch eine wachsende Unübersichtlichkeit produziert: Es ist ein Bedarf entstanden, disziplinäre Einstiegspunkte, interdisziplinäre Anschlussmöglichkeiten und transdisziplinäre Austauschgelegenheiten zu sondieren. Die Beiträge des Bandes thematisieren zentrale Schlüsselwerke der sozialwissenschaftlichen Klimaforschung und ermöglichen so einen ersten und orientierenden Zugang zu diesem Forschungsfeld.
Global news on anthropogenic climate change is shaped by international politics, scientific reports and voices from transnational protest movements. This timely volume asks how local communities engage with these transnational discourses.... more
Global news on anthropogenic climate change is shaped by international politics, scientific reports and voices from transnational protest movements. This timely volume asks how local communities engage with these transnational discourses. The chapters in this volume present a range of compelling case studies drawn from a broad cross-section of local communities around the world, reflecting diverse cultural and geographical contexts. From Greenland to northern Tanzania, it illuminates how different understandings evolve in diverse cultural and geographical contexts while also revealing some common patterns of how people make sense of climate change. Global Warming in Local Discourses constitutes a significant, new contribution to understanding the multi-perspectivity of our debates on climate change, further highlighting the need for interdisciplinary study within this area. It will be a valuable resource to those studying climate and science communication; those interested in understanding the various roles played by journalism, NGOs, politics and science in shaping public understandings of climate change, as well as those exploring the intersections of the global and the local in debates on the sustainable transformation of societies.
Alice Goffman beschreibt, wie schwarze eher als weiße Jugendliche ins Visier der amerikanischen Polizei geraten
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Im Alltag sind wir es nicht gewohnt mit seltsamen Bitten konfrontiert zu werden
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Climate change is commonly regarded as one of 21st century's grand challenges that needs to be addressed by conducting integrated research combining natural and social sciences. To meet this need, how to best train future climate... more
Climate change is commonly regarded as one of 21st century's grand challenges that needs to be addressed by conducting integrated research combining natural and social sciences. To meet this need, how to best train future climate researchers should be reconsidered. Here, we present our experience from a team-taught semester-long course with students of the international master program " Integrated Climate System Sciences " (ICSS) at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Ten lecturers with different backgrounds in physical, mathematical, biogeo-chemical and social sciences accompanied by a researcher trained in didactics prepared and regularly participated in a course which consisted of weekly classes. The foundation of the course was the use of the concept of 'scales' – climate varying on different temporal and spatial scales – by developing a joint definition of 'scales in the climate system' that is applicable in the natural sciences and in the social sciences. By applying this interdisciplinary definition of 'scales' to phenomena from all components of the climate system and the socioeconomic dimensions, we aimed for an integrated description of the climate system. Following the concept of research-driven teaching and learning and using a variety of teaching techniques, the students designed their own scale diagram to illustrate climate-related phenomena in different disciplines. The highlight of the course was the presentation of individually developed scale diagrams by every student with all lecturers present. Based on the already conducted course, we currently redesign the course concept to be teachable by a similarly large group of lecturers but with alternating presence in class. With further refinement and also a currently ongoing documentation of the teaching material, we will continue to use the concept of 'scales' as a vehicle for teaching an integrated view of the climate system.
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An Interdisciplinary Workshop, Hamburg 6-7 Sept. 2017 The climate of the past is a fundamental part of today's climate research. Paleoclimatological data from the archives of nature serve to calibrate climate models and inform current... more
An Interdisciplinary Workshop, Hamburg 6-7 Sept. 2017
The climate of the past is a fundamental part of today's climate research. Paleoclimatological data from the archives of nature serve to calibrate climate models and inform current knowledge about future climate changes. Historian of science Matthias Dörries argues that paleoclimatology gained political relevance by writing a " history of the deep past " by which it also influences the interpretation of the present; it helped to fill the Earth's history with concrete climate events (Dörries 2015: 25). But how did the study of this " deep past " become such a crucial pillar of modern climate science? How has it impacted the very notion of 'climate', and what were the consequences for both, paleoclimatological and climate science practices? It is the goal of this workshop to tackle these and related questions in an interdisciplinary setting. In the 1960s and 70s, results from the study of ice cores, sea sediments and tree rings provided evidence that climate is prone to change not only over thousands of years but also during period of times that are within the reach of human imagination, like years or decades. At the same time, these studies extended the temporal scale of climate change beyond any human imagination, to millions of years, and helped to expand the spatial scale from regional data gathering to a global concept of climate. As Dörries points out: " the Earth's past in the 1980s had become quite different from its past in the early 1960s " (27). The study of the climate's past shifted from being a marginalised subject of historical climatology to being a pool of data indispensable for climate modelling. Consequently, and with this increasing relevance, new research questions, approaches and technologies were developed and led to an enormous growth of the field. Paleoclimatological disciplines such as ice core research, tree rings and pollen analysis, ocean and lake sediment studies have emerged from a range of scientific fields such as physics, glaciology, oceanography, botany, ecology, chemistry or archaeology with differing research questions, cultures and methods of data interpretation. The integrative presentation of paleoclimatological data as a fundament of global climate change knowledge, as for example in IPCC reports, tends to hide conflicts between the different paleoclimatological fields as well as between paleoclimatology and climate modelling regarding type and complexity of data or scales of their validity, as well as the frictions in the process of making paleoclimatological data fit for computer models. This workshop aims at exploring the changing roles of paleoclimatology as a part of climate science and its contribution to the understanding of climate on different temporal and spatial scales throughout the 20 th century.
The climate of the past is a fundamental part of today's climate research. Paleoclimatological data from the archives of nature serve to calibrate climate models and inform current knowledge about future climate changes. Historian of science Matthias Dörries argues that paleoclimatology gained political relevance by writing a " history of the deep past " by which it also influences the interpretation of the present; it helped to fill the Earth's history with concrete climate events (Dörries 2015: 25). But how did the study of this " deep past " become such a crucial pillar of modern climate science? How has it impacted the very notion of 'climate', and what were the consequences for both, paleoclimatological and climate science practices? It is the goal of this workshop to tackle these and related questions in an interdisciplinary setting. In the 1960s and 70s, results from the study of ice cores, sea sediments and tree rings provided evidence that climate is prone to change not only over thousands of years but also during period of times that are within the reach of human imagination, like years or decades. At the same time, these studies extended the temporal scale of climate change beyond any human imagination, to millions of years, and helped to expand the spatial scale from regional data gathering to a global concept of climate. As Dörries points out: " the Earth's past in the 1980s had become quite different from its past in the early 1960s " (27). The study of the climate's past shifted from being a marginalised subject of historical climatology to being a pool of data indispensable for climate modelling. Consequently, and with this increasing relevance, new research questions, approaches and technologies were developed and led to an enormous growth of the field. Paleoclimatological disciplines such as ice core research, tree rings and pollen analysis, ocean and lake sediment studies have emerged from a range of scientific fields such as physics, glaciology, oceanography, botany, ecology, chemistry or archaeology with differing research questions, cultures and methods of data interpretation. The integrative presentation of paleoclimatological data as a fundament of global climate change knowledge, as for example in IPCC reports, tends to hide conflicts between the different paleoclimatological fields as well as between paleoclimatology and climate modelling regarding type and complexity of data or scales of their validity, as well as the frictions in the process of making paleoclimatological data fit for computer models. This workshop aims at exploring the changing roles of paleoclimatology as a part of climate science and its contribution to the understanding of climate on different temporal and spatial scales throughout the 20 th century.
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CALL FOR REGISTRATION (deadline 31 Aug. 2017) We are pleased to announce the programme of the interdisciplinary workshop “Towards a History of Paleoclimatology: Changing roles and shifting scales in climate sciences” (Hamburg, 6-7 Sept.... more
CALL FOR REGISTRATION (deadline 31 Aug. 2017)
We are pleased to announce the programme of the interdisciplinary workshop “Towards a History of Paleoclimatology: Changing roles and shifting scales in climate sciences” (Hamburg, 6-7 Sept. 2017). The workshop is organised within the frame of the German Centre of Excellence “Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)” and in cooperation with the Centre of Environmental Humanities, Aarhus University.
We invite scholars with an interest in the history of paleoclimatology (from the humanities, social sciences as well as from climate sciences) to participate in the workshop. Registration is needed until 31 Aug. by email to lara.jung@studium.uni-hamburg.de
The climate of the past is a fundamental part of today’s climate research. Paleoclimatological data from the archives of nature serve to calibrate climate models and inform current knowledge about future climate changes. But how did the study of the “deep past” become such a crucial pillar of modern climate science? How did it contribute to the understanding of climate on different temporal and spatial scales throughout the 20th century? And how has it impacted the very notion of ‘climate’, and what were the consequences for both, paleoclimatological and climate science practices? It is the goal of the workshop to tackle these and related questions in an interdisciplinary setting: The invited speakers are historians, sociologists and archaeologists, as well as (paleo)climatologists.
You can find more information about the content and a detailed programme with abstracts in the PDF as well as here:
https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereich-sowi/professuren/roedder/ueber-uns/news/workshop-paleo.html
We are pleased to announce the programme of the interdisciplinary workshop “Towards a History of Paleoclimatology: Changing roles and shifting scales in climate sciences” (Hamburg, 6-7 Sept. 2017). The workshop is organised within the frame of the German Centre of Excellence “Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)” and in cooperation with the Centre of Environmental Humanities, Aarhus University.
We invite scholars with an interest in the history of paleoclimatology (from the humanities, social sciences as well as from climate sciences) to participate in the workshop. Registration is needed until 31 Aug. by email to lara.jung@studium.uni-hamburg.de
The climate of the past is a fundamental part of today’s climate research. Paleoclimatological data from the archives of nature serve to calibrate climate models and inform current knowledge about future climate changes. But how did the study of the “deep past” become such a crucial pillar of modern climate science? How did it contribute to the understanding of climate on different temporal and spatial scales throughout the 20th century? And how has it impacted the very notion of ‘climate’, and what were the consequences for both, paleoclimatological and climate science practices? It is the goal of the workshop to tackle these and related questions in an interdisciplinary setting: The invited speakers are historians, sociologists and archaeologists, as well as (paleo)climatologists.
You can find more information about the content and a detailed programme with abstracts in the PDF as well as here:
https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereich-sowi/professuren/roedder/ueber-uns/news/workshop-paleo.html