Avoiding cultural trauma: climate change and social inertia

ABSTRACT

The failure of societies to respond in a concerted, meaningful way to climate change is a core concern of the social science climate literature. Existing explanations of social inertia display little coherence. Here, a theoretical approach is suggested that integrates disparate perspectives on social inertia regarding climate change. Climate change constitutes a potential cultural trauma. The threat of cultural trauma is met with resistance and attempts to restore and maintain the status quo. Thus, efforts to avoid large-scale social changes associated with climate change constitute an effort to avoid cultural trauma, and result in social inertia regarding climate change at individual, institutional, and societal levels. Existing approaches to social inertia are reviewed. An intellectual framework utilizing the work of Pierre Bourdieu is proposed to integrate these different levels of social interaction. Social processes that maintain social order and thus avoid cultural trauma create social inertia regarding climate change.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• social inertia
• neo-institutionalism
• cultural trauma
• post-politics
• framing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Certainly there are pockets of real climate engagement in all nations.

2. We refer here to the sensibilities of majority publics in Western democratic nations. Within these contexts there are of course communities who are less identified with the modern project.