JMK Higher Seminar: Fuelling Denial

Kjell Volwes presents his doctoral thesis about the convergence of climate denial and the far-right in Sweden.

Seminar

Date:

Thursday 19 December 2024

Time:

10.00 – 12.00

Location:

Bangsalen

 

The four empirical papers of the thesis analyse the climate change discourses on five Swedish far-right alternative media sites during the years 2018-2019 and in connection with the release of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report in 2021 (the physical science basis). The study shows how certain far-right media actors used literal denialist argumentation to renounce the science of climate change. This renouncement was used in the further far-right media ecosystem to designate climate change as a ridiculous topic using for example scare-quoting. Also, there was widespread, misogynistic opposition to Greta Thunberg.

The thesis’ kappa introduces the term the climate change reactionary movement, to highlight how far-right opposition to climate change policies is connected to anti-feminism and nationalism. The nostalgic gaze of the Swedish far-right is towards the 1950s and 1960s and a society characterised by gendered divisions of labour, strong beliefs in technological innovation, and increased welfare for those deemed to be belonging to the nation.

Kjell Volwes is an interdisciplinary scholar with a background as a climate journalist. He is currently employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the Univerity of Gothenburg in the project: "I stormens öga. Klimatanpassning i tider av ökande polarisering och desinformation".

Link to the thesis
 

Internal event