A critical feminist system justification analysis of climate obstructionism on the part of conservative white men

Abstract

In the U.S. and other Western nations, one demographic group is most likely to downplay anthropogenic climate change and its consequences, to embrace the “discourse of delay,” and to resist pro‐environmental policies: conservative white men. In this article, we bring together critical, feminist perspectives on masculinity and environmental dominance and social psychological insights from system justification theory to hypothesize that identity‐protective cognition, material interests, and ideological legitimation processes combine and reinforce one another to motivate obstructionism when it comes to taking climate action. Our hope is that by integrating critical and empirical approaches to social science—and illuminating individual and group psychological factors that are embedded in specific historical and political settings—it will be possible to increase solidarity among environmental scholars and activists and forge a shared vision of climate justice across disciplines.