Author: Butler, Catherine

Source: Environmental Values, Volume 19, Number 2, May 2010 , pp. 169-192(24)

Publisher: White Horse Press

Abstract:

There is a growing literature which examines the ways in which individualised responsibilisation of 'risky behaviours' also entails moralisation. In UK discourses about climate change, certain individualised behaviours (e.g. leaving appliances on standby) are designated as responsible and/or good and correspondingly as irresponsible and/or bad. In this context, the decision to engage or not engage in these types of behaviour can be seen as becoming increasingly moralised. Drawing on focus group discussions with members of the British lay public (participant n96), this paper brings together public(s) (re)production of and negotiated responses to the moral undertones of this aspect of climate change discourse with theories of risk, morality and responsibility to develop important insights for conceptualising climate change mitigation.

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Keywords: public perceptions; risk; responsibility; ethics; governance

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3197/096327110X12699420220554

Publication date: 2010-05-01

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