Caring for the future: Climate change and intergenerational responsibility in China and the UK

Diprose, Kristina; Liu, Chen; Valentine, Gill; Vanderbeck, Robert M.; McQuaid, Katie

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.05.019

Cited by 15 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In particular, I will assume that the current generation is concerned about future generations, and I will focus on only two generations; the current and next generations. This can be justified by the evidence that the current generation perceives more accurately the near future (i.e., within their lifetime and that of their immediate descendants) than the distant future (Diprose et al, 2019), together with the urgency of the global sustainability problem (Rockstrom et al, 2017). Moreover, I will assume a normal distribution for future consumption preferences p(η) and technologies p(θ), with alternative variances (σ) representing uncertainty, but with means (μ) at 1.0 and 0.5, respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental sustainability is not worth pursuing unless it is achieved for ethical reasons

Zagonari

2020

Palgrave Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper analytically characterizes the four main environmental sustainability paradigms (i.e., WS, weak sustainability; AG, a-growth; DG, de-growth; and SS, strong sustainability) by introducing uncertainty about future preferences for consumption and future technologies. SS represents an ethical approach because of its maximum aversion to intergenerational inequality of resources, whereas DG depicts preference changes, AG depicts technology changes, and WS represents the reference paradigm without accounting for preference or technology changes. By comparing the costs and benefits of these paradigms, solutions derived for the whole parameter domains based on data for a globally representative individual suggest that whenever environmental sustainability is pursued for welfare reasons within a utilitarian perspective (i.e., WS, AG, DG), it is not worth pursuing. In contrast, if environmental sustainability is achieved for ethical reasons within an egalitarian perspective (i.e., SS), it is worth pursuing, even with an increased world population. In terms of feasibility (i.e., whether there are realistic parameter values such that a given sustainability paradigm can achieve its goal), solutions are ranked ethics > preference > technology (i.e., SS > DG > AG), whereas WS is unfeasible. Thus, WS, AG, and DG are inconsistent sustainability paradigms, SS empirically solves the theoretical dispute on absolute rights, and environmental sustainability must be treated as an ethical issue. A conceptual discussion about environmental ethics and a statistical analysis based on panel data at a country level support the same insights. In terms of reliability (i.e., whether there are national policies or international agreements which can support a feasible sustainability paradigm), SS could be enforced by a global environmental agreement, supported by 66/55% of governments (i.e., top-down approach) and by 56/51% of citizens (i.e., bottom-up approach), in the most certain/uncertain scenarios, respectively.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental sustainability is not worth pursuing unless it is achieved for ethical reasons

Zagonari

2020

Palgrave Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Apocalyptic discourses orientated to the future have been criticised as depoliticising in contrast to messages of hope as moblising (Gregg, 2019; Harré et al, 2017; Head, 2016; Pearse et al, 2010; Pihkala, 2017). Orientations to the future ignore the current impacts of the changing climate, particularly on the Global South, drawing attention to abstract futures rather than present, material conditions (Cassegård and Thörn, 2018; Diprose et al, 2019; McNamara and Farbotko, 2017).…”

Section: Indigenous and Climate Activist Temporalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children and young people’s voices are often strategically deployed to create ethical imperatives for climate action (Cocco-Klein and Mauger, 2018; Diprose et al, 2019; Holmberg and Alvinius, 2020). This deployment implies a linear conceptualisation of time where children and young people are coupled with the future to make appeals for urgent action to avoid burdening future generations with the consequences of climate change (Cocco-Klein and Mauger, 2018; Diprose et al, 2019; but see Sukarieh and Tannock, 2014). In an analysis of Greta Thunberg’s speeches, Holmberg and Alvinius (2020: 88) note how she ‘blames and shames world leaders’ but does not ‘demand responsibility’, which instead is transferred to younger generations.…”

Section: Indigenous and Climate Activist Temporalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A linear conceptualisation of time that burdens children and young people with the responsibility to solve climate change for their future and future generations diverts attention from the responsibilities of other generations to solve the climate crisis (Diprose et al, 2019; Nairn, 2019; Randall, 2005). The focus on children tends to narrow the ‘timescape’ to privilege generations in close proximity to each other, within particular national borders (Diprose et al, 2019: 160). Instead, Diprose et al (2019: 160) explain how we need to extend the timescape of intergenerational responsibility and include ‘distant’ others – human and non-human – who live elsewhere.…”

Section: Indigenous and Climate Activist Temporalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The focus on children tends to narrow the ‘timescape’ to privilege generations in close proximity to each other, within particular national borders (Diprose et al, 2019: 160). Instead, Diprose et al (2019: 160) explain how we need to extend the timescape of intergenerational responsibility and include ‘distant’ others – human and non-human – who live elsewhere. The conflation of children and young people with the future diverts our attention away from other forms of life affected by climate change, reinforcing an anthropocentric interpretation of the crisis (Diprose et al, 2019; Head, 2016; Hoskins and Jones, 2017).…”

Section: Indigenous and Climate Activist Temporalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Living in and out of time: Youth-led activism in Aotearoa New Zealand

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Addressing past and present injustices in order to create more just futures is the central premise of most social movements. How activists conceptualise and relate to time affects 1 how they articulate their vision, the actions they take and how they imagine intergenerational justice. Two social movements for change are emblematic of different relationships with time: the struggle to resolve and repair past injustices against Indigenous peoples and the struggle to avert environmental disaster, which haunt the future of the planet. We report ethnographic research (interviews and participant observation) with young activists in these two social movements in New Zealand: Protect Ihumātao seeks to protect Indigenous land from a housing development, and Generation Zero is lobbying for a zero-carbon future. We argue that analysing activists’ articulations and sensations of time is fundamental to understanding the ways they see themselves in relation to other generations, their ethical imperatives for action and beliefs about how best to achieve social change. Protect Ihumātao participants spoke of time as though past, present and future were intertwined and attributed their responsibility to protect the land to past and future generations. Generation Zero participants spoke of time as a linear trajectory to a climate-altered future, often laying blame for the current crises on previous generations and attributing the responsibility for averting the crisis to younger generations. How activists conceptualise time and generational relations therefore has consequences for the attribution of responsibility for creating social change. Understanding and learning about temporal diversity across social movements is instructive for expanding our thinking about intergenerational responsibility which might inform ways of living more respectfully with the planet.

show abstract

Innocent heroes or self‐absorbed alarmists? A thematic review of the variety and effects of storylines about young people in climate change discourses

Jones

Davison

Lucas

2023

WIREs Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Discourses about young people are interacting with climate change discourses in ways that often marginalize the young in social responses to climate change. The resulting stories about young people in a changing climate build upon long‐standing representations of youthhood in late modern societies as a liminal, ill‐defined state between childhood and adulthood. The social and behavioral sciences have both helped produce these stories and critically examined their origins, characteristics, and effects. This article offers a novel critical review of ideas about young people in climate change research across a wide variety of disciplines and fields, including geography, psychology, sociology, education, political studies, health studies, media studies, legal studies, and youth studies. We employ Hajer's account of discursive storylines to identify seven ways in which young people are storied in climate discourses. While distinct, stories of young people as innocent, vulnerable, heroic, alarmist, inheriting, apathetic or narcissistic overlap, and interact. This variety of storylines reflects the mutable category of young people and the deliberate ambiguity with which it is often deployed. We use this typology in three ways to advance the interests of young people in climate change discourses. First, we show how these discourses are indebted to while also changing understandings of young people in late modern societies. Second, we consider the potential impacts of these stories on young lives and on responses to climate change. Third, we identify prospects for new stories to emerge as young voices become increasingly important in urgent social discussions of climate change.This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Communication Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change

show abstract

Caring for the future: Climate change and intergenerational responsibility in China and the UK

Abstract: This article has been published in a revised form in Geoforum. Diprose, K. et al. ( 2019) 'Caring for the future: climate change and intergenerational responsibility in China and the UK',

Cited by 15 publications

References 72 publications

Environmental sustainability is not worth pursuing unless it is achieved for ethical reasons

Environmental sustainability is not worth pursuing unless it is achieved for ethical reasons

Living in and out of time: Youth-led activism in Aotearoa New Zealand

Innocent heroes or self‐absorbed alarmists? A thematic review of the variety and effects of storylines about young people in climate change discourses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About