The article examines the media discourse of risk and stigma which developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, employing the theoretical frameworks of Mary Douglas and Erving Goffman. ...Accessing the Factiva database archive, the authors analysed a total of 139 stigma-linked media reports, using the Discourse Network Analyzer (DNA) to identify thematic groups of beliefs and related actors contributing to the risk discourse on the contagion. The results exhibit a clear difference in opinion on various stigma-related beliefs among the individuals diagnosed or assumed susceptible to COVID-19, including the issue of disclosing identities. In India, domestic actors have dominated the media discourse, particularly national government agencies, rather than intergovernmental organisations or foreign governments. The media content analysis in this article shows that new hierarchies have emerged based on confirmed or suspected contact with the disease along with reinforcement of traditional myths and superstitions, leading to discrimination against the quarantined individuals, their families, healthcare staff and socially marginalised communities.
•The paper analyzes the centrality of international organizations and the opposition or support that they face from coalitions of national organizations in mass-mediated climate policy debates in ...four countries.•International organizations are less central in the high-income countries that are high per capita emitters (Canada and the US) where there is more opposition to global norms from coalitions of national organizations.•International organizations are more central in the middle-income countries that are low per capita emitters where there is less opposition to global norms.•Position in the world society and the different commitments between Annex I and non-Annex I countries are likely to have shaped national debates on climate change.
National climate policies are shaped by international organizations (IOs) and global norms. Drawing from World Society Theory and the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), we develop two related arguments: (1) one way in which IOs can influence national climate policy is through their engagement in mass-mediated national policy debates and (2) national organizations involved in the policy process may form advocacy coalitions to support or oppose the norms promoted by IOs. To examine the role of IOs in national policy debates and the coalitions that support and oppose them, we use discourse network analysis (DNA) on over 3500 statements in 11 newspapers in Canada, the United States (US), Brazil, and India. We find that in the high-income countries that are high per capita emitters (Canada and the US), IOs are less central in the policy debates and the discourse network is strongly clustered into competing advocacy coalitions. In the lower-income countries that are low per capita emitters (Brazil and India), IOs are more central and the discourse network is less clustered. Relating these findings to earlier research, we suggest that the differences we find between high and low per capita emitters may be to some extent generalizable to the relevant country groups beyond our four cases.
The hegemonic narrative linking coal to national sovereignty and energy security promoted by state and private actors, translates into policies promoting coal expansionism. The study is based on the ...proposition that the counter-discourse offered by non-state actors, mainly environmental civil society organization, represents a potential challenge against such narrative. The dialectical discursive dynamics around energy transition are explored within India's print media by employing the method of Discourse Network Analysis to trace the dominant storylines and discourse coalitions. The findings reveal two opposed storylines, one pro-coal the other anti-coal, underpinning the two ideologically cohesive discourse coalitions dominated by state and non-state actors, respectively. It uncovers the ideological fault lines between the two sets of actors, with the possibilities for synthesis and policy co-learning. The paper concludes by deriving implications regarding post pandemic challenges and possibilities emerging for both the sets of actors.
The paper investigates the discursive consensus and conflict that unfolded in the first five years after the Paris Agreement while making decisions on the pivotal justice principles in Indian energy ...policy. It employs discourse network analysis and draws on the concepts of storylines and discourse coalitions to analyze media discourse as well as the prominent state and non-state actors that frame it. Our findings identify three major themes in the discourse: first, a strong consensus on the intersection of energy poverty with other intra-generational injustices and renewables as a solution for ensuring energy justice; second, a mild conflictual narrative resulting in three discourse coalitions that underscores the lack of affordability, appreciation of inter-generational justice, and due process in the policies targeted to improve energy availability; and third, a strong conflict between availability and sustainability in the discussion around fossil fuel, non-fossil fuel, and renewables, resulting in three coalitions in favour of each. The paper concludes by highlighting the need to strengthen the due process component for an inclusive policy directed towards enhanced and renewable-based energy access.
Knowledge of energy transition (ET) is evolving in developing countries. Yet, it is unclear how the transition should be managed in a way that ensures justice for local stakeholders. We synthesise ...the extant theoretical ideas and practices of the local governance (LG) related to ET, which are vital in ensuring justice in energy policy at the local level. The paper advances this development by a systematic integrative literature review (N = 569) from the Web of Science (WoS) and highly cited grey literature linked to participation, LG, and ET. The bibliometric analysis indicates that, while the literature on energy justice is growing, limited attention has been paid to LG in just energy transition (N = 36). The analysis further indicates that more than half of the scientific literature is produced by five countries from the global North alone. In-depth scrutiny of highly cited studies and grey literature in LG and ET underlines the lack of a generalised framework of local ET governance, especially in the global South. We address this gap and propose a framework that exhibits a community-centric LG, which is essential for just energy transition.
The risk profile of air pollution generates multiple meanings of justice for diverse stakeholders. We examined 535 articles from two Indian newspapers published between 2017 and 2020 and obtained 13 ...concepts of justice pertinent to ambient air pollution in Delhi. Employing the theoretical perspective of environmental justice, we observed the prevalence of procedural and distributive justice discourses with dominant participation from non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Recognition justice emerged the most underrepresented of all discourses. We used Discourse Network Analysis to reveal the prominence of Indian citizens, the Supreme Court of India, and farmers in the justice debate, and an overall restricted participation of the government bodies. Our findings highlight polarization among the academic and the non-academic actors on the disproportionate effect of air pollution. For air pollution mitigation in Delhi, we suggest organized and inclusive participation by diverse stakeholders in decision-making, acknowledging socio-cultural differences among populations.
In a social network, countering false news or rumor is one of the biggest challenges. In this study, the rumor diffusion in the homogeneous and heterogeneous social networks has been explored, ...introducing the concept of an anti-rumor spreading agent as the mitigator. The study consists of four types of individuals within the population, namely, spreaders, mitigators, ignorants, and stiflers. To model the interactions among the aforesaid populations, five mathematical models have been proposed for the rumor diffusion process in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. The proposed SMIR model has been solved using Runge-Kutta fourth-order method and then the model has been extended into a fuzzy environment to deal with the inherent uncertainties. The spreading of a rumor is a socio-psychological phenomenon which may contain delay in the process. To investigate this, the SMIR model has been transformed into a delayed SMIR model. In the heterogeneous environment, the SMIR model has been extended in a small world and scale-free networks. The results obtained are analyzed in all the cases and found that mitigator plays a critical role to control the spread of rumor in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments.
•Objective: to explore the spread of rumors on social networks.•Four population: spreaders, mitigators, ignorants, and stiflers.•The fuzzy paradigm has been used to remove uncertainties.•The results are obtained from homogeneous and heterogeneous environmnet.
The media represents a discursive site with actors trying to influence the discourse on a particular subject. The paper delves into an exploratory analysis of the policy discourse around climate ...change in India during the 2015 Paris Agreement by tapping into the data from the print media. Employing Discourse Network Analysis (DNA) and drawing theoretical insights from the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), the paper aims to highlight the dominant policy beliefs and the prominent actors in the Indian climate policy sphere. The findings exhibit a firm agreement on the scientific reality of climate change, along with a continued emphasis on the historical responsibility of the developed countries. The transition to renewable energy is widely accepted, but coal phase-out and sustenance of nuclear power is a contentious issue. The study uncovers a consistent belief system underlying the climate change discourse in India and the challenges in the path towards future energy transition.
Abstract
This paper argues that periodic waves of crowding‐in to ‘hot’ issue fields are a recurring feature of how globally networked civil society organizations operate, especially in countries of ...the Global South. We elaborate on this argument through a study of Indian civil society mobilization around climate change. Five key mechanisms contribute to crowding‐in processes: (1) the expansion of discursive opportunities; (2) the event effects of global climate change conferences; (3) the network effects created by expanding global civil society networks; (4) the adoption and innovation of action repertoires; and (5) global pressure effects creating new opportunities for civil society. Our findings contribute to the world society literature, with an account of the social mechanisms through which global institutions and political events affect national civil societies, and to the social movements literature by showing that developments in world society are essential contributors to national mobilization processes.
Climatization and Declimatization Müller, Katja; Goodman, James; Swarnakar, Pradip ...
Nature and culture,
03/2024, Letnik:
19, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Climate change forces a reckoning with the ecological side effects of fossil-fuel-based industrial development, requiring an incorporation of climate issues into the mainstream structures of society. ...In this perspective article, we address this as a “climatization” process directed at aligning society with climate imperatives. We focus on the contingent dynamics of “climatization” and show how contention may be avoided by “declimatizing” climate action. Here, we emphasize the immediate co-benefits of climate action as against more distant climate benefits. “Declimatization” is therefore a strategic move: it is distinct from the “anti-climatization” backlash, though it is often figured as a reflexive response to it. We draw on climate anthropology, climate advocacy, and climate movement theory, and provide brief insights into de/climatization in Germany, India, and Australia.
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