Exploring counter hegemony and action research to address the climate crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay argues that climate change as a policy issue sits at the interface of several overlapping crises and must be understood within this broader context, which seems to parallel Gramsci’s notion of the interregnum. In this context, competing coalitions not only contest the more visible policy problem (climate change) but also attempt to reshape governing institutions in alignment with their values. Rather than promote evidence-based policy making to rise above value conflicts; however, scholars should foreground values and the struggle over governing institutions. I argue for a focus on climate justice coalitions that do intersectional organizing across a range of social identities and thus offer potential counter-hegemonic projects that not only propose a way forward through the climate crisis but substantially focus on transforming the state to secure climate policy and more just governing institutions. I illustrate my argument with examples from climate justice coalitions in New York, USA and Meta, Colombia. I propose several possible areas of inquiry for interpretive and critical scholars related to this interregnum period and discuss the potential of action research as a mode of inquiry in this context and the challenges associated with it.