https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/404781

*Exploring the Scientific Discourse on Solar Radiation Management and the
Global South*

Alina Weiss

*Abstract *

In the Anthropocene, climate change and its associated impacts are an
emerging threat. In the light of global shortcomings in meeting mitigation
and adaptation targets, the discourse on geoengineering technologies,
including solar radiation management (SRM), emerged. While the technical
feasibility of these technologies is still in the experimentation phase,
their social, ecological, and economic implications require scientific
scrutiny. Scholars attribute the leading role in governing geoengineering
to scientists as they steer collective decisions about geoengineering while
state action is often absent. This stresses the importance of investigating
the scientific discourse, where scholars from the Global South and their
interests are systemically underrepresented. In this research project, I
will investigate the representation and recognition of the Global South in
the knowledge production on solar radiation management (SRM). A mixed
quantitative-qualitative research strategy focussing on the global
scientific discourse will be supported by empirical work applying a
bibliometric analysis and a sociology-of-knowledge discourse analysis. The
data pool for the empirical analysis consists of journal articles on solar
radiation management from 2009 to 2020 and a number of semi-structured
interviews with researchers from the Global South or stakeholders from the
science-policy interface. The quantitative analysis of the representation
of the Global South in knowledge production on SRM shows low but increasing
representation of non-Western authors and institutions. However, only a few
of these can be attributed to the Global South, but rather to wealthier
countries such as Japan. In particular, the funding of research on SRM is
in the hands of Global North institutions. With regard to the recognition
of the Global South as legitimate participants in the scientific discourse,
the structural analysis of discourse shows that calls for this are
widespread, but there are only few indications for their interests being
recognised in the discourse. So far, underpinned by normative or strategic
rationales, the Global South is often spoken for by scholars from the
Global North.

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"geoengineering" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAKSzgpZvKQKbZY1a5nMN2G88_2ZB7qmRW6Yz1wuK8SN5g-fKbA%40mail.gmail.com.

Reply via email to