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The Local Epistemology of Climate Change: How the Scientific Discourse on Global Climate Change is Received on the Island of Palawan, the Philippines

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  2. Sociologus
  3. Vol. 68, Issue 1
  4. pp. 63–84

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Friedrich, T. The Local Epistemology of Climate Change: How the Scientific Discourse on Global Climate Change is Received on the Island of Palawan, the Philippines. Sociologus, 68(1), 63-84. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.68.1.63
Friedrich, Thomas "The Local Epistemology of Climate Change: How the Scientific Discourse on Global Climate Change is Received on the Island of Palawan, the Philippines" Sociologus 68.1, , 63-84. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.68.1.63
Friedrich, Thomas: The Local Epistemology of Climate Change: How the Scientific Discourse on Global Climate Change is Received on the Island of Palawan, the Philippines, in: Sociologus, vol. 68, iss. 1, 63-84, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.68.1.63
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The Local Epistemology of Climate Change: How the Scientific Discourse on Global Climate Change is Received on the Island of Palawan, the Philippines

Friedrich, Thomas

Sociologus, Vol. 68 (2018), Iss. 1 : pp. 63–84

5 Citations (CrossRef)

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Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.68.1.63
Language
English
Pages
22
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Friedrich, Thomas

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Abstract

Abstract

The Philippines is a country that is very prone to tropical cyclones that cause much economic damage and numerous causalities each year. However, not all parts of the archipelago are equally affected. The main part of the island of Palawan in the country’s south west is rather unlikely to be hit by a strong storm, which is why its inhabitants don’t fear very harmful typhoons. At the same time, however, they consider climate change and its adverse effects as a serious threat, and very destructive cyclones like super typhoon Yolanda in 2013 are well understood as intensified by climate change. In this article I will resolve this apparent contradiction. By means of cognitive anthropological methods, I will demonstrate how the scientific discourse on global climate change and thus scientific climate knowledge is incorporated in, and intertwined with pre-existing local ecological knowledge and ubiquitous national and local discourses about the environment. As the presented empirical data indicates, there exists a widespread conviction within the island’s capital that environment-friendly behaviour mitigates extreme weather events as much as morally bad environmental behaviour induces all kinds of natural hazards, including climate change. Therefore, Palawan serves as a good example to show how the located (re)production of scientific climate change knowledge, its local communication, and its entanglements with other forms of cultural knowledge eventually shape the way people perceive and make sense of climate change.

Keywords: climate change, knowledge and discourse, epistemology, cognitive anthropology

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