In Search of Climate Politics

This book addresses the crucial - but oddly neglected - question of what it means to say climate change is political.

Matthew Paterson (Author)

9781108971416, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 August 2021

196 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1 cm, 0.39 kg

In what ways is climate change political? This book addresses this key - but oddly neglected - question. It argues that in order to answer it we need to understand politics in a three-fold way: as a site of authoritative, public decision-making; as a question of power; and as a conflictual phenomenon. Recurring themes center on de- and re-politicization, and a tension between attempts to simplify climate change to a single problem and its intrinsic complexity. These dynamics are driven by processes of capital accumulation and their associated subjectivities. The book explores these arguments through an analysis of a specific city - Ottawa - which acts as a microcosm of these broader processes. It provides detailed analyses of conflicts over urban planning, transport, and attempts by city government and other institutions to address climate change. The book will be valuable for students and researches looking at the politics of climate change.

1. Introduction
2. Making Climate Policy In The City Of Ottawa
3. Networked Governance and Carbon Accounting In Ottawa
4. Complete Streets and Its Discontents
5. Intensifying Conflicts: Agonism and The Politics Of Urban Spatial Transformations
6. Mapping Climate Experimentation In Ottawa
7. The University Of Ottawa: Strategic Energy Management, Experimentation, and Repoliticization
8. Renewing Democratic Politics: The Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative
9. Conclusions
Index.

Subject Areas: Social impact of environmental issues [RNT], Climate change [RNPG], Environmentalist, conservationist & Green organizations [RNB], Political geography [RGCP], Treaties & other sources of international law [LBBC], International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA]