Beyond Climate Fixes: From Public Controversy to System Change

Political elites have been evading the causes of climate change through deceptive fixes. Their market-type instruments such as carbon trading aim to incentivise technological innovation which will supposedly decarbonize or replace dominant high-carbon systems. In practice this techno-market framework has perpetuated climate change and social injustices, thus provoking public controversy. Using this opportunity, social movements have counterposed low-carbon, resource-light, socially just alternatives. Such transformative mobilisations can fulfil the popular slogan, ‘System Change Not Climate Change’.

This book develops key critical concepts through case studies such as GM crops, biofuels, waste incineration and Green New Deal agendas.

Les Levidow is Senior Research Fellow at the Open University. There he has studied agri-food-environmental issues, especially technofixes, public controversy and alternative agendas. A long-time case study was controversy over agri-biotech (transgenics) in the European Union, USA and their trade conflicts. Other case studies have included controversies over biofuels, bioenergy and waste conversion. He has researched agroecology as a transformative agenda, initially European networks, and more recently South American ones for a solidarity economy and food sovereignty. He has coordinated two such projects funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). He has been co-Editor of the journal Science as Culture since the 1990s.