The Social Aspects of Environmental and Climate Change: Institutional Dynamics Beyond a Linear Model

The Social Aspects of Environmental and Climate Change critically examines the prominence of natural science framing in mainstream climate change research and demonstrates why climate change really is a social issue.

The book highlights how assumptions regarding social and cultural systems that are common in sustainability science have impeded progress in understanding environmental and climate change. The author explains how social sciences theory and perspectives provide an understanding of institutional dynamics including issues of scale, possibilities for learning, and stakeholder interaction, using specific case studies to illustrate this impact. The book highlights the foundational role research into social, political, cultural, behavioural, and economic processes must play if we are to design successful strategies, instruments, and management actions to act on climate change.

With pedagogical features such as suggestions for further reading, text boxes, and study questions in each chapter, this book will be an essential resource for students and scholars in sustainability, environmental studies, climate change, and related fields.