What does Climate Change mean to you? A Focus Group Study in Italy

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 14: Energy, Communication, and Public Opinion

Abstract

Climate change is among the most prominent political issues of the twenty-first century. Yet, we still know little about what ordinary citizens actually mean when they talk about “climate change” (CC) and about the “pictures in their heads” appearing when they think about it. Existing research has focused on attitudes, beliefs, levels of concern, and policy preferences, while what remained implicit is how ordinary people make sense of the issue. Indeed, similar attitudes can originate from very different meanings for very different people (e.g., poor, rural pensioners and young, affluent tech engineers can both be unconcerned about climate change).
Theoretically, we conceptualise “climate change meanings” as subjective definitions of what CC is (and is not) and the relational context in which people place it. We argue how this conception is analytically distinct from extant conceptualizations and studies of “climate change attitudes”, “understandings”, “beliefs”, “discourses”, “narratives”, and “issue frames”, and why meanings precede and structure the frames and attitudes that people recognise as legitimate. The study aims to uncover (1) which meanings can be observed in the Italian public opinion and (2) the worldviews, justifications, and experiences that sustain them.
Italy provides a particularly interesting context where public concern and policy support are rising after years of relative indifference, and extreme weather events have intensified media and political attention. Yet, qualitative public opinion research remains scarce. We conduct focus groups with Italian citizens, selected to maximise variation in age, gender, education, urban–rural location, regional identity, and political orientation. Transcripts are analysed with inductive thematic analysis, with the aim to uncover analytically distinct meanings and to relate them to social positions and life trajectories. Fieldwork will be completed in the spring, aiming to conduct around 12 focus groups with a total of around 60 participants.

Authors

• Gaetano Scaduto, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Willem De Koster, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Roy Kemmers, Erasmus University Rotterdam