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Communicating Climate Change in China

A Dynamic Discourse Approach

verfasst von: Sidan Wang

Verlag: Springer Nature Singapore

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book explores how China's media narrate climate policy and climate change. With the rapid growth of economy and carbon emissions, China has been seen as having a key role in addressing

climate change and receives substantial attention from the media. In the

Chinese coverage, climate change issues can be interpreted as various concerns

and ideas involving the dimensions of the economy, energy and emissions, public

involvement, science and ecology, and responsibility. In this sense, a discourse

approach can be used to understand how the newspapers construct the climate

change discourse and discourse networks in the coverage. This study selects

three different newspapers in China, namely People’s

Daily, China Daily and Southern Weekend. This book will interest scholars of Chinese politics, environmentalists, and media studies scholars.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Why Researching Climate Change Discourses in China?

Abstract

Climate change politics and governance have been emerging as an important topic on international relations and political studies. Not surprisingly, China has been seen as a very important country within the global climate governance, having implemented its efforts on climate mitigation and adaption. But it is really important and interesting to know when and why China had changed its understandings of climate change issues. This thus employs the discourse approach to observe how China had been communicating climate change issues around the critical policy moments in 2007, 2009 and 2015.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 2. Climate Change Politics, Journalism and Coverage of China

Abstract

Researching climate change discourses requires an understanding of climate change politics and governance of China. This raises a question how China’s climate policies had been determined by economic, energy, environmental, societal, administrative and international factors from 2007 to 2015. The evolution of China’s climate governance and policies places a fundamental basis for changing its climate change discourses. Beyond the climate policies and governance, climate journalism and coverage of China offers a platform for understanding and observing the dynamic climate discourses. Therefore, this work focuses on reviewing academic literature on climate politics, governance, journalism and coverage of China.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 3. Social Constructionism and Environmental Discourses

Abstract

While climate change issues have serious impacts over objective reality, they have to be socially constructed for raising public awareness. The way of socially constructing climate change issues substantially determines the trajectory of climate policies and governance. Thus, this research is developed on the theoretical basis of social constructionism. Following ontological and epistemological discussions, this work focuses on climate change discourses and borrows key elements of discourse coalition approach. Empirically, it maps the climate discourses and discourse networks in the newspapers in China.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 4. Mapping Climate Discourse Networks in the Coverage of China

Abstract

While climate change issues can be socially constructed, observing this discursive process requires a specific perspective of mapping them. Identifying the newspapers as data sources is determined by the nature of China’s climate politics, media system and climate coverage. Using the interpretivist approach to discourse networks shows an innovative method of mapping climate discourses and their networks identified in the newspapers. By reflecting key elements of the discourse coalition approach, this work maps storylines, claim-makers, discourse networks, discursive structuration and institutionalisation of socially constructing climate change issues in China.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 5. Dynamic Climate Change Discourses in China

Abstract

Climate change issues have been discursively constructed over time from 2007 to 2015 across the critical policy moments. A wide range of actors have been cited as news sources to construct climate issues across the newspapers. It is very interesting to find that the three climate discourses in China have been evolving differently. This work identifies the decline of the development discourse, the rise of ecological modernisation discourse and the emergence of low carbon discourse from 2007 to 2015. The discursive evolution shows a potential for constructing the low carbon discourse.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 6. Various Actors in Making Climate Change Discourses

Abstract

A wide range of actors can be identified as the news sources across the newspapers. They can be governmental bodies, business actors, NGOs, academic communities and subnational agencies. People’s Daily and China Daily could construct the voices of central and ministerial governmental bodies substantially in line with their statements and positions because they are labelled as national official newspapers. China Daily cites a wide range of social actors including businesses and NGOs to construct climate discourse in coverage. However, Southern Weekend is labelled as a highly marketised newspaper and therefore it cites a wide range of actors as news sources beyond governmental bodies. And, this work selects a number of cases to compare and contrast the discourses between their own documents and the climate coverage.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 7. Climate Change Discourse Networks in China in 2007, 2009 and 2015

Abstract

This work focuses on understanding how various actors are cited to link to a set of storylines and form discourse networks. It compares the summarised key elements of policy documents to those identified storylines in the climate change discourses. Particularly, it visualises discourse networks with storylines and actors/claim-makers. This work observes how People’s Daily, China Daily and Southern Weekend constructed the climate discourses and discourse networks from 2007 to 2015.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 8. Communicating Climate Change Discourses in China

Abstract

This work explains the communication of climate change discourses in China. The dominant climate discourse has been evolving across development, ecological modernisation and low carbon from 2007 to 2015. And, a wide range of actors had been cited as news sources in the coverage to make sense of climate issues. The discursive structuration and institutionalisation can be seen as a process of a discursive shift from development to low carbon in the coverage. The three newspapers, due to the nature of China’s media system and climate governance, show very different features of communicating the climate change discourses in China.

Sidan Wang

Chapter 9. Researching the Coming of Low Carbon Discourse

Abstract

This work reveals that the dominant discourse network can be constructed and identified with various storylines and news sources in the climate change coverage across People’s Daily, China Daily and Southern Weekend. The discursive shift from the development discourse to the low carbon discourse had been emerging. This research witnesses the emergence of the low carbon discourse and sets a basis for exploring the development of various discourses in China.

Sidan Wang

Backmatter

Titel: Communicating Climate Change in China
verfasst von: Sidan Wang
Verlag: Springer Nature Singapore
Electronic ISBN: 978-981-9725-15-1
Print ISBN: 978-981-9725-14-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2515-1