Subverting the status quo? Climate debt, vulnerability and counter-hegemonic frame integration in United Nations climate politics – a framework for analysis

This article analyzes distinct articulations and forms of political integration of the frame ‘climate debt’ in United Nations climate politics from 2000 to 2015. In analysis of this case study, the framework of ‘counter-hegemonic frame integration’ is developed by which political incorporation of disruptive frames into multilateral regimes can be assessed. This enables analysis of frame integration across two dimensions: strength of recognition and strength of distributive justice. Five outcomes are differentiated: non-integration, disruptive integration, covert integration, impotent integration, and dominant integration. In doing so, it provides a foundation to more precisely assess counter-hegemonic gains, and with it, theorize counter-hegemonic network influence in multilateralism. Despite various discursive and strategic innovations by advocacy networks, the frame of climate debt as it relates to climate vulnerability has been integrated to be largely compatible with structures of hegemony and stripped of subversive meaning and impact. However, this has not been a linear process: at each stage, there have been areas of progress and setbacks in terms of frame recognition and distributive justice. The analysis contributes to a broader research program to uncover the mechanisms and conditions of transformation of unequal power relations within the world system and identifies critical areas of future research.