School of Social and Political Science

Description

Climate change - like death - is uncomfortable and commonly avoided in the conversations of day-to-day life in the UK. This ‘silence’ impedes public debate about, and civic participation in, different ways to tackle climate change. Two social realms identified as silence-breaking are social movements and personal relationships. Drawn from a sociological study, this talk examines the the intersections of climate activism and everyday relationships. Climate activists emerge as leaders in initiating the topic, but personal ties complicate rather than ameliorate a cultural tendency to seek more cheerful conversation. This necessitated various gendered face-saving and relationship-preserving strategies to negotiate climate change talk, including backgrounding one’s ‘environmental killjoy’ identity, slowly ‘chipping away’ at climate obstruction through social and sustainable practices, and prioritising humour. In conclusion, the talk reflects upon the wider social norms that surround climate talk.

Speaker: Lisa Howard, PhD researcher, Sociology

Session Chair: Prof. Lynn Jamieson

Join this CRFR seminar for a presentation, Q&A and discussion on the absent presence of climate change in everyday conversations. Which aspects and practices of our everyday lives do you feel most impede or enable the discussion of climate change? What are the implications for reproducing climate silence? How can we normalise and make such conversations more accessible?

Speaker biog:

Lisa Howard is a 3rd year Sociology PhD candidate. Her research explores the overlapping worlds of parenting, personal life, and climate justice activism. She aims to uncover how affective relationships motivate, support and impede climate and environmentally oriented action.