Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Teses Dissertations and Teses Fall 10-4-2013 Disjointed Cosmopolitanism: Climate Change and Lived Experience in Portland, Oregon Stephen Wayne Flinn Portland State University Let us know how access to this document benefts you. Follow this and additional works at: htp://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Flinn, Stephen Wayne, "Disjointed Cosmopolitanism: Climate Change and Lived Experience in Portland, Oregon" (2013). Dissertations and Teses. Paper 1435. 10.15760/etd.1434 Tis Tesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Teses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact Disjointed Cosmopolitanism: Climate Change and Lived Experience in Portland, Oregon by Stephen Wayne Flinn A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Communication Thesis Committee: Priya Kapoor, Chair Sue Poulsen Chris Carey Portland State University 2013 Disjointed Cosmopolitanism i Abstract Climate change has emerged as one of the most significant issues facing the world. This research endeavored to uncover and describe the lived experience of Portland, Oregon residents in relation to the substantive issue of climate change. The specific purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of the ways that Portland residents conceive of and communicate about climate change. Utilizing semi- structured phenomenological interviews, particular attention was paid to the culture of Portland residents, their lived experience and how the issue of climate change manifests itself in their everyday experiences. In addition, this particular phenomenological inquiry incorporated elements of auto ethnography by positioning the researcher’s experiences, imagination and intellect at the center of the research endeavor. Multiple themes emerged from the in-depth, descriptive interviews that helped to reveal the structure or essence of the participant’s experience(s). A single meta-theme was identified and informed by contemporary theories such as Cosmopolitanism and the Environmental Justice Paradigm. Disjointed Cosmopolitanism ii Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….…i Chapter One: Background…………………………………………………………………1 Chapter Two: Research Question(s)………………………………………………………4 Chapter Three: Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………...5 Chapter Four: Methodology……………………………………………………………...12 Chapter Five: Theoretical Influence……………………………………………………..43 Chapter Six: Thematic Descriptions……………………………………………………..69 Chapter Seven: Discussion……………………………………………………………..143 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….158 Appendix A Participant Chart …………………………………………………………..162 Appendix B Theme: Freedom …………………………………………………………..164 Appendix C Theme: Green Pressure……………………………………………………167 Appendix D Meta-Theme: Disjointed Cosmopolitanism………………………………172 Appendix E HSRRC Application………………………………………………………182 Appendix F Participant Informed Consent and Release Agreement…………………...188 Appendix G Interview Questions and Prompts………………………………………...189 Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 1 CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND The environment has emerged as one of the most important issues in modern society. While development and consumption patterns increase around the globe, so do calls for reform in both government policy and individual consumption. Consensus exists in the scientific community that climate change is happening as a result of human consumption of fossil fuels. This consensus on climate change and its causes erodes beyond the scientific community or when the general public is polled. Past studies have shown that the issue of climate change remains largely abstract and intangible to the general public because they do not feel the immediate impacts of climate change. As a result, the media becomes integral to their conceptions of climate change (Antilla, 2008, p. 2). Additional research has demonstrated that even though the U.S. public has access to high quality information on climate change, concern remains low and the public remains disengaged on the issue (Nisbet and Kotcher, 2009, p. 329). Environmental Sociologist Dr. Kari Norgaard (2006) has conducted interdisciplinary investigations of climate change consensus and the public’s response. She has documented this lack of public response to the issue of climate change by measuring social movement activity, individual behavior changes and public pressure put on governments to reform (Norgaard, 2006, p. 347-348). Norgaard’s research calls into question the “information deficit model” of climate change. Her findings debunk the common assertion in climate scholarship that individuals and governments will change their actions if only they knew the extent of the problem (Noorgaard, 2006. P. 348). Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 2 Communication of climate change is just as important as the climate science itself. Communication and climate change research by Ockwell et al (2009) examines the disconnectedness between information on climate change and the persistent inaction from individuals and regulators. They argue that communication will play a central role in any solution to climate change. Ockwell et al. believe that the solution will not come from individuals or regulators alone and thus the issue of climate change needs to be communicated in a manner that appeals to values beyond materialism and self-interest and that this new discourse should be targeted to specific populations in varying ways (Ockwell et al, 2009, p. 305, 316, 320). Thus, culture and the various incongruities within localized communities is an important area of scholarship that can contribute additional insights into current research regarding communication and climate. The purpose of this research is to add to the developing field of knowledge regarding climate change and communication. In addition, this research helps to satisfy the requirements of obtaining a Master of Science in Communication at Portland State University. The specific purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the ways that Portland residents conceive of and communicate about climate change. Particular attention will be paid to the culture of Portland residents, their lived experience and how the issue of climate change manifests itself in their everyday experiences. What do Portlanders know and believe about climate change? What are the sources of this Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 3 information and how does the issue of climate change manifest itself in the everyday lived experience of Portlanders? Norgaard’s research was conducted primarily in Norway. Much like Portland, Norwegians are very knowledgeable of environmental issues and are seen as environmentally progressive. This current research in Portland, Oregon can offer additional insight and understanding of particular cultural practices that can potentially help uncover reasons for the behavioral disconnect between climate knowledge and climate (in)action. Additionally, a “city” focus on the issue of climate change is warranted as researchers Mike Hodson and Simon Marvin explain, “Cities are critical in our understanding of both energy and climate change (Hodson and Marvin, 2010, p.70)” They indicate that cities are largely responsible for climate change and also victims of climate change as well. They add that “Cities are the material representation of today’s energy-intensive economies, where carbon based energy systems-oil, electricity and mobility systems- have made the huge agglomerations of cities and modern industrial systems possible (Hodson and Marvin, p. 71).” Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 4 CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH QUESTION(S) This research seeks to describe the lived experience of Portland residents in relation to climate change and their individual behaviors. Additionally, this research seeks to describe the Portland resident’s knowledge and conceptualizations of climate change. Thus, my primary research question is: “How do Portland residents describe the issue of climate change in relation to their own lived experience?” Additionally, this research asks: “Where do Portland residents obtain their information on climate change?” and “How do Portland residents understand the causes and consequences of climate change on their own terms?” Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 5 CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This research project adopts an existential phenomenological perspective modified from the Lanigan (1988) and Van Manen (1990) articulations of phenomenology. Phenomenological research according to Van Manen is “the study of the lifeworld-the world as we immediately experience it pre-reflectively rather than as we conceptualize, categorize, or reflect on it (Van Manen, 1990, p. 9).” Van Manen continues that “Phenomenological human science is the study of lived or existential meanings; it attempts to describe and interpret those meanings to a certain degree of depth and richness (Van Manen, 1990, p.11).” The term phenomenology appeared in philosophical writings as early as 1765. Kant used the term to explain the difference between studying objects and events in our experience (phenomena) from the study of objects and events as they are in and of themselves (noumena) (Van Manen, 1990, p. 183). Hegel was the first to provide a “well- defined technical meaning” of the term phenomenology. (Moustakas, 1994, p. 26). Hegel viewed phenomenology as a science that describes “what one perceives, senses, and knows in one’s immediate awareness and experience (Moustakas, 1994, p. 26).” Phenomenology has a long history in both philosophy and sociology. Van Manen emphasizes that all phenomenological research must begin in the ‘lifeworld’ or “the world of the natural attitude of everyday life” (p.7) in order to “bring us in more direct contact with the world (Van Manen,1990, p.9 ).” The term lifeworld originates in meaning from the German word Lebenswelt explained by Husserl as the “world of immediate experience” as it exists as an original experience. For example, a Disjointed Cosmopolitanism 6 phenomenologist can describe a particular way a person lives, interacts and creates their world. The person is brought to the foreground in the research as the primary source for explaining, describing and generating knowledge about the lifeworld (Moustakas, 1994, p.48). Husserl believed that each lifeworld has certain structures or elements that can be identified and understood more completely when they are examined with a pre- theoretical point of view. The lifeworld is “already there” or “pregiven” so the task of the phenomenologist is to approach the experience from “natural” or “naive” perspective (Van Manen, 1990, p.182). This discovery oriented approach to human science research aims to be without presuppositions and prescribed sets of rules and procedures. Van Manen jokes, “Indeed it has been said that the method of phenomenology and hermeneutics is that there is no method (Van Manen, 1990,p. 30)!” Nonetheless, a wealth of previous scholarship exists and careful attention to the origins of phenomenology and the various approaches affords the human science researcher “a set of guides and recommendations for a principled form of inquiry that neither simply rejects or ignores tradition, nor slavishly follows or kneels in front of it (Van Manen, 1990, p. 30).” Communication scholar Richard Lanigan explains phenomenology as “a historical movement, a philosophy in the existential tradition, and it is a research method exemplifying a philosophy of science (Lanigan, 1988, p. 8).” Phenomenology originated in Germany with the writings of Husserl and Heidegger. This movement also includes French theorists Merleau-Ponty and Sartre and now American human science researchers (Lanigan, 1988, p.7). Human science from a