The Treadmill of Information: Development of the Information Society and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The world is facing a crisis of global warming due to the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses by human activities. Many scholars and stakeholders argue that information and communication technology (ICT) development will mitigate CO2 emissions. Advocacy of technological solutions to CO2 mitigation is consistent with ecological modernization theory\u27s assertion that reflexive societies will modernize sustainably. In contrast, we define the “treadmill of information” as the unique contribution of ICT development to environmental degradation. We examine the impact of ICT development on total CO2 emissions and source-sector emissions from electricity, buildings, manufacturing, and transportation using a multilevel growth model for panel data from 113 countries split into the world, developed country, and less-developed-country samples. We find that the level of fixed telephone development is a strong predictor of higher CO2 emissions in less-developed countries, while internet use predicts higher CO2 emissions in developed countries. The effect of mobile telephone development is not significant. Thus, it appears that ICTs are not having an ameliorative effect on global warming as expected by ecological modernization theorists, and instead reinforce the treadmill of production\u27s negative effect

Un nouveau paradigme écologique pour une sociologie post-abondance

La sociologie s’est développée dans le contexte d’une vision occidentale dominante du monde (DWW) extrêmement anthropocentrique, selon laquelle les humains seraient séparés du reste de la nature et considéreraient l’abondance des ressources, la croissance et le progrès comme allant de soi. La sociologie a adopté cette vision du monde optimiste et y a ajouté des caractéristiques disciplinaires spécifiques – notamment l’énoncé d’Émile Durkheim selon lequel les faits sociaux ne devaient pas être expliqués par des facteurs psychologiques, biologiques ou environnementaux – ce qui l’a d’autant plus encouragée à ignorer l’environnement biophysique. Au cours de la moitié du xxe siècle, la sociologie a reposé sur un paradigme disciplinaire qui voyait les sociétés modernes industrialisées comme « exemptées » des contraintes écologiques. En raison du paradigme de l’exemptionnalisme humain (HEP), l’appréhension par la sociologie de la signification sociale des preuves croissantes de la pollution, de la pénurie des ressources et des autres problèmes écologiques a été lente. Cependant, la reconnaissance croissante de ces problèmes a stimulé le champ de la sociologie de l’environnement et une reconnaissance graduelle de la dépendance des sociétés modernes à l’écosystème, donnant un essor à un nouveau paradigme écologique (NEP). Les hypothèses fondant la DWW, le HEP et le NEP sont d’abord présentées, les relations entre la distinction HEP-NEP et les clivages sociologiques traditionnels comme ordre versus conflit sont ensuite discutées de manière à démontrer l’utilité du NEP dans une ère de croissance des contraintes écologiques.Sociology developed in the context of a highly anthropocentric Dominant Western Worldview (DWW) that saw humans as separate from the rest of nature and took resource abundance, growth and progress for granted. Sociology adopted this optimistic worldview, and added unique disciplinary characteristics—especially Durkheim’s dictum that social facts should not be explained by psychological, biological or environmental factors--that further encouraged ignoring the bio-physical environment. By mid-20th century, sociology was premised on a disciplinary paradigm that viewed modern industrial societies as “exempt” from ecological constraints. This Human Exemptionalism Paradigm (HEP) made sociology slow to see the societal significance of mounting evidence of pollution, resource scarcities and other ecological problems. However, growing recognition of these problems stimulated a field of environmental sociology and a gradual recognition of the ecosystem-dependence of modern societies, giving rise to a New Ecological Paradigm (NEP). The basic assumptions of the DWW, HEP and NEP are presented, and then the relationship between the HEP-NEP distinction and traditional sociological cleavages such as order vs. conflict are discussed in order to demonstrate the utility of the NEP in an era of growing ecological constraints

Clarifying anti-reflexivity: Conservative opposition to impact science and scientific evidence

The recent study reported by McCright et al (2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 044029) extends current research on conservatives' distrust of science by distinguishing between public trust in production versus impact scientists (i.e. those whose work yields new technologies and marketable products versus those assessing the health and environmental impacts of such technologies and products). As expected, they find that conservatives are significantly less trustful of impact scientists but somewhat more trustful of production scientists. In the process they provide support for the Anti-Reflexivity Thesis, a perspective that attributes conservatives' (and Republicans') denial of anthropogenic climate change (ACC) and other environmental problems and attacks on climate/environmental science to their staunch commitment to protecting the current system of economic production. McCright et al's innovative study deserves replication, and their approach should prove useful in accounting for divergent views of ACC. It is also important to keep in mind that anti-reflexivity is an institutional and structural issue, becoming more consequential when it is employed by political elites such as the George W Bush Administration in the US. Institutional anti-reflexivity is further illustrated by the widespread denial of ACC and a range of other problems among current Republican members of the US Congress.Peer reviewedSociolog

Bayesian versus politically motivated reasoning in human perception of climate anomalies

In complex systems where humans and nature interact to produce joint outcomes, mitigation, adaptation, and resilience require that humans perceive feedback-signals of health and distress-from natural systems. In many instances, humans readily perceive feedback. In others, feedback is more difficult to perceive, so humans rely on experts, heuristics, biases, and/or identify confirming rationalities that may distort perceptions of feedback. This study explores human perception of feedback from natural systems by testing alternate conceptions about how individuals perceive climate anomalies, a form of feedback from the climate system. Results indicate that individuals generally perceive climate anomalies, especially when the anomalies are relatively extreme and persistent. Moreover, this finding is largely robust to political differences that generate predictable but small biases in feedback perception at extreme ends of the partisan spectrum. The subtlety of these biases bodes well for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience as human systems continue to interact with a changing climate system.Peer reviewedSociolog

A model of management academics' intentions to influence values

Business schools face increased criticism for failing in the teaching of management studies to nurture their students’ values. Assuming that individual academics play an important role in shaping the value-related influence of business schools, I model management academics’ intentions to influence values. The suggested model encompasses academics’ economic and social values as internal variables, as well as perceived support for attempting to influence values and academic tenure as social and structural variables. A test with empirical data from 1,254 management academics worldwide reveals that perceived external support is most relevant for explaining intentions. Moreover, academics’ social values, but not their economic ones, contribute to an explanation of their intentions to influence values. The results reveal how important it is for academics to believe that their colleagues, higher education institutions, and other stakeholders support their value-related behavioral intentions

Climate Change Denial Books And Conservative Think Tanks: Exploring The Connection

The conservative movement and especially its think tanks play a critical role in denying thereality and significance of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), especially by manufacturinguncertainty over climate science. Books denying AGW are a crucial means of attacking climate scienceand scientists, and we examine the links between conservative think tanks (CTTs) and 108 climatechange denial books published through 2010. We find a strong link, albeit noticeably weaker for thegrowing number of self-published denial books. We also examine the national origins of the books andthe academic backgrounds of their authors or editors, finding that with the help of American CTTsclimate change denial has spread to several other nations and that an increasing portion of denialbooks are produced by individuals with no scientific training. It appears that at least 90% ofdenial books do not undergo peer review, allowing authors or editors to recycle scientificallyunfounded claims that are then amplified by the conservative movement, media, and politicalelites. © 2013 SAGE Publications