Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Lately, an increased demand that politicians need to act stronger and faster in the fight against climate change has been heard from the public. At the same time, responsibility and accountability for the climate change question remain unc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Larson, Rebecca
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2019
Materias:
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author Larson, Rebecca
author_browse Larson, Rebecca
author_facet Larson, Rebecca
author_sort Larson, Rebecca
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Lately, an increased demand that politicians need to act stronger and faster in the fight against climate change has been heard from the public. At the same time, responsibility and accountability for the climate change question remain unclear, as well as what role different actors in society and politics should have in solving environmental problems. Politicians represent a group in society that has been given power by the public to make political decisions. This study aims to gain an understanding, from the point of view of elected politicians, of who they think is responsible in the shift to a more sustainable society. To reach the aim of this study, I have conducted nine semi-structured interviews with Swedish politicians. Using Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR) approach, the study looks at how politicians represent the problem of climate change through the solutions put forth, and who is seen as responsible. Furthermore, the study looks at how the respondents view their role in solving environmental problems. The findings offer insights to how climate change is looked upon from the point of view of politicians and sheds light on the complex issue of responsibility and accountability in the shift to a more sustainable society.
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spelling RepoSLU146622020-06-04T12:50:09Z Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems Larson, Rebecca Individualism WPR approach identity-protective cognition knowledge consumption Swedish politics Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Lately, an increased demand that politicians need to act stronger and faster in the fight against climate change has been heard from the public. At the same time, responsibility and accountability for the climate change question remain unclear, as well as what role different actors in society and politics should have in solving environmental problems. Politicians represent a group in society that has been given power by the public to make political decisions. This study aims to gain an understanding, from the point of view of elected politicians, of who they think is responsible in the shift to a more sustainable society. To reach the aim of this study, I have conducted nine semi-structured interviews with Swedish politicians. Using Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR) approach, the study looks at how politicians represent the problem of climate change through the solutions put forth, and who is seen as responsible. Furthermore, the study looks at how the respondents view their role in solving environmental problems. The findings offer insights to how climate change is looked upon from the point of view of politicians and sheds light on the complex issue of responsibility and accountability in the shift to a more sustainable society. SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2019 H2 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14662/
spellingShingle Individualism
WPR approach
identity-protective cognition
knowledge
consumption
Swedish politics
Larson, Rebecca
Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title_full Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title_fullStr Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title_full_unstemmed Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title_short Who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
title_sort who is responsible for the shift to a more sustainable society? : how politicians view responsibility and accountability for environmental problems
topic Individualism
WPR approach
identity-protective cognition
knowledge
consumption
Swedish politics