![]() ![]() 2014) and ontological assumptions (Lidskog 2001 Escobar 2011). More pointedly, there is hope that social sciences may foster a deeper reflection on the very process of climate knowledge creation (Yearley 2009) and on its hidden epistemic (Ulloa 2011a Aufenvenne et al. In addition, and especially important for this paper, it is hoped social sciences will shed light on the semiotic processes allowing society to make sense of the interaction between itself and nature. 1998), the opportunities and conditions for societal organizations and collective action (Victor 2015) and the role and dynamics of social movements in climate policy (Postigo 2013). Some aspects that have received enhanced attention lately include the interactions between climate vulnerability and adaptation policies (Agrawal et al. This perspective is often expected to provide a deeper understanding on both the anthropocentric factors causing climate change, the social determinants of climate impacts and vulnerabilities, and the possibilities for coordinated response to climate threats. In recent years there have been numerous calls to reinforce the presence of social sciences in this field. This resulted in a limited, fragmentary and reductionist definition of what is ‘the social’ of climate change (Blanco and Fuenzalida 2013 Victor 2015). Consequently, many observations on the ‘human’ or ‘social’ aspects of the phenomenon have come either from ‘natural’ (as opposed to ‘social’) disciplines or from interdisciplinary, but theoretically heterogeneous perspectives. For a long time, this artefact has been almost exclusively the domain of earth and atmospheric sciences. This is a necessary precondition for political intervention, but at the same time it prevents us from studying the ontological multiplicity of climate change and its controversial constitutive processes. 1987 Latour 1987): a socio-technical artefact whose familiarity and naturalization make it readable and readily usable for a broader socio-political audience. These are expected to be gradually increased over the next few years, sometimes requiring deep transformations of our present societies (Feola 2015).Īs will be discussed in this paper, the present popularity of climate change is due to its gradual transformation into a ‘black box’ (Bijker et al. In 2015, the representatives of 195 countries met in Paris to negotiate bonding commitments in the fight against climate change (UNFCCC 2016). All over the world, urgent calls have arisen to implement long-term policies which may help mitigate its causes and adapt to its consequences (Giddens 2008). Over the last few decades, the notion of climate change has become increasingly popular, as the most acknowledged manifestation of the contemporary environmental crisis (Estenssoro 2007, 2010). This, in turn, highlights the persistence of disciplinary divisions within an allegedly interdisciplinary field. We conclude that the literature displays two competing trends: while it is inclined to become fragmented beyond the scope of the ‘mitigation’ black box, it also tends to cluster along the lines of methodological distinctions traditionally contested within the social sciences. By combining in-depth qualitative content analysis of each paper with a statistical meta-analysis, we were able to: characterize the key content and forms of such literature identify divisions and patterns within it and, discuss some factors and trends that may help explain these. How do ‘the climate’ and ‘the social’ interpenetrate as scientific objects? What does the resulting field look like? Is the combination capable of promoting reflexivity and collaboration on the issue, or does it merely become dispersed with diffuse boundaries? Our paper seeks to answer these and other related questions using Chile as a case study and examining peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic. This makes it necessary to problematize the way in which research efforts understand ‘the social’ of climate change. Scientific understanding of global environmental change and the process of designing public policies to face them are characterized by their complexity as well as by epistemic and normative uncertainties. ![]() However, the social sciences, especially in Latin America, have only lately become interested in the subject and their approach is still vague. Over the last few decades climate change has been gaining importance in international scientific and political debates.
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