Social constructivism and post-truth: Climate denialism and knowledge politics in policy argumentation

This chapter demonstrates the way social constructivism can contribute to the understanding of post-truth climate denial and the politics of alternative facts. After introducing the way climate denial is grounded in high levels of political division and distrust in numerous countries around the world, the discussion turns to the politics of climate denialism and the ways social constructivism can offer an insightful approach for understanding post-truth politics. The approach is employed to show that it is not altogether correct to portray the deniers as irrational because they ignore or challenge empirical climate data. From the constructivist perspective, the challenge to the evidence is seen instead to be a pretext for other social and political concerns. The sociopolitical dimensions underlying climate denialism, it is argued, can only be neglected at the expense of understanding the nature of the denial problem. The chapter closes with suggestions for dealing with this entrenched political reality.