Scientific & Political Change

A theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. Everett Rogers, a professor of rural sociology, popularized the theory in his 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations. He said diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.

This is a compilation of resources for teaching kids about the environment. It contains links aimed a kids of all different ages, organized by the following topics... * Global Warming * Energy * Air * Oceans * Water * Wildlands * Wildlife * Health * Environmental Justice * U.S. Law & Policy * Nuclear * Smart Growth * Recycling * International Issues * Green Living

look what i found...npr is awesome! remember i told you about the Nature Deficit Disorder braodcast on BBC.. Lisa Bingham Book Review: What are we Escaping From?: Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2005. 334 pp Bulletin of Science, Technology &

The American Climate and Environmental Value Survey (ACEVS) is the third application of sophisticated psychographic research on American environmental and climate values. The goal of ACEVS is to increase the leverage, scale, reach, and most importantly, efficacy, of climate and environmental initiatives by empowering the movement with proven research and methodology for authentically engaging Americans in climate and environmental solutions, bringing these Americans to solutions on their own terms, in context of their choosing, and for their personal benefit.

This survey includes a section on what influences people (primarily the media). It also begins with the comment that "cap and trade" is now "toxic." It would be interesting to connect the dots here (as Oreskes & co-author do in Merchants of Doubt), so that we see who was behind the push against cap and trade. Ironically, cap and trade originated as a free market alternative to government regulation of how much pollution could be emitted.

Fred Singer!

''Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World'' is a powerful and original statement on why well-intended attempts to alleviate pressing social ills too often derail, and how effective, efficient and broadly acceptable solutions to social problems can be found. It takes its cue from the idea that our endlessly changing and complex social worlds consist of ceaseless interactions between four ways of organizing, justifying and perceiving social relations. Each time one of these perspectives is excluded from collective decision-making, governance failure inevitably results. Successful solutions are therefore creative combinations of four opposing ways of organizing and thinking.

Rhoda, when I click on the link it goes to a login for Swarthmore. I'm thinking this article by the same authors may cover similar ground -- http://psychologyforasafeclimate.org/resources/Clumsy%20solutions%20for%20a%20complex%20world%20The%20case%20of%20climate%20change.pdf

Sorry about the link problem, Felicia. I'll see if I can fix it. Thanks for finding one that works!

The four diagrams capture the 4 world views about human impact on the environment. (I provide some critical commentary on this view of worldviews in "Exploring themes about social agency through interpretation of diagrams of nature and society," in How Nature Speaks: The Dynamics of the Human Ecological Condition , ed. Y. Haila and C. Dyke. Durham, NC, Duke University Press)

Are facts enough? Humans tend to ignore facts they don't like. Sometimes facts that disprove the legitimacy of one's beliefs only cause one to believe more strongly in their original (and demonstrably false) opinion.

This article shows insurance company data that indicates that costs from storms and floods are going up, but not so much from earthquakes, tsunamis or from temperature extremes. It connects with CS's inquiry on frequency of extreme climatic events and my project on using the insurance industry to get beyond political posturing.

"The dam collapse [in 1979] is one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and no one has heard about it,"--myself included. One of the policy responses to extreme climatic events is to suppress knowledge. ""This book is an attempt to tell the story of this place-western India in 1979-this monsoon, the government cover-up that unjustly silenced this narrative for too long..." 25,000 people died.

Links to an NPR podcast telling the story of how homosexuality was removed from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). The story is told by Alix Spiegel, the granddaughter of one of the psychiatrists involved in the movement, Dr. John Patrick Spiegel. While his point of view is given, mostly by recounting stories passed down in the family, the podcast strives to be more objective than those stories, drawing on multiple sources, not only on family lore. In this historical example, a grassroots movement succeeds in changing accepted scientific "fact".

Kendra - I finally had time to listen to the podscast. Thanks for sharing this here so I could listen to this very personal story.

This is the book I mentioned in class that conveys a strong sense of: a) how much we depend on that is below (infra) our attention; b) how difficult it is to try to get to understand how it all functions.

This is the lovely refworks page made by the awesome and helpful 24/7 online librarians. Let me know if you cannot see it. These relate to the topic of political affiliations and disaster relief. Sadly I did not get it in time to read most of them. It seems none is really directly applicable to my topic anyway.

In this editorial from the October 2010 volume of "Science," Bruce Alberts suggests a system of STEM (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) merit badges for children ages 5-18 to earn awards in schools. He compares this system both to the system used by the Boy and Girl Scouts, and to the system of AP (Advanced Placement) courses currently used in high schools today. It is suggested that this will help students maintain the curiosity they feel towards science in the early years into their high school careers, by when children have often lost interest.

I've recently come to the term STEAM which ads "art" into the traditional STEM equation. I also found this link while doing this quick research - http://ilandsymposium.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/art-science-activism-and-bicycles/. This combined with Rhoda's post about Digital Storytelling makes me wonder what role creativity (from stories to visualizations) play in this equation.

Not being familiar at all with STEM, I am interested in seeing what connections might be found with further inquiry into how stories and the way they are shared can have an effect on positive change, education and personal connections to issues that often seem too big.

I have no idea if this is true, but it is an interesting representation either way. (Graph of the percentage of adults per country who believe in evolution compared against GDP/capita)

Why the Right needs to get invested in the search for climate change solutions. Looks at how the right has been absent from solutions related to climate change. Proposes opportunities to address issue from a conservative ideological frame and still address global warming and climate change.

The Genewatch (USA) website has abundant resources, in the form of links to what is going on and to other groups as well as an archive of 25 years of their magazine. Their role is to monitor new developments. Other than educating readers and getting them concerned, their many approach to getting people engaged seems to be to get them to sign petition and contact their elected representatives. (I looked for articles about teaching, but didn't find them easily if they are there.)

The Program link on their website provides a bunch of things that seem like they could be a good starting point for teaching and curriculum development. Maybe as the starting point for a PBL.

not an extreme climatic event, but an example of improving science-policy connections

Seems they have radio broadcasts too, so I'll keep an eye open for this talk on their site. But also thanks for sharing this site itself as I was not aware of this organization.

From Laura T. Thought you might like to listen to the participants in this short 9 min. clip with an ear to discerning threads of the 'four policy perspectives' (heirarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism) in "Clumsy Solutions" article posted on Diigo. Climate Change : Panel discussion for Editorial Intelligence, London, UK, December 1, 2009. Includes author of "Saving Kyoto," Graciela Chichilnisky, Ph.D. tenured prof. at Columbia in Economics and Mathematical Statistics & Top Ten Most Influential Latinos in America. She created Columbia's Consortium on Risk Management that was funded by six mj. global reinsurance co.'s --- a group which developed new financial instruments called 'catastrophe bundles.' (approx. 9 min.)

"For scientists, the struggle between their work and the way society views that work is nothing new, says Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. After all, she says, Galileo was forced by the Catholic establishment to renounce his evidence for a sun-centered solar system, and Darwin's ideas have been a political football for more than a century." This article places the current Tennessee proposed bill on "academic freedom" in the context of other challenges the scientific community faces when trying to reconcile their knowledge and research within the context of social believes and attitudes.

A series of articles by Tom Vanderbilt exploring the behavioral consequences of infrastructure development in American transportation systems.

Grid-group cultural theory explores two dimensions 1) individual connection to the group (group axis) and 2) the level of difference at play in the roles individuals take on (grid axis). The resulting quadrants express four key political economic ideologies: fatalism (low grid / low group), individualism (high grid / low group), collectivism (high grid high group), and egalitariansm (low grid / high group). An anti position, reclusivism, is also discussed.

Interesting. Thanks. I like the initial endeavor of trying to show the importance of native rituals in modern societies. It reminded me of Durkheim. I also find insightful the five ways description of the collective configuration of society.