Abstract
ABSTRACT Drawing on a presentation given at the Geographical Association’s Annual Conference in April 2021 (Williams, 2021a), this article investigates the way that depictions of planet Earth are often simplified to green continents on blue oceans, accidentally universalising a white and western perspective of the Earth. The article demonstrates how this effect is evident in language too, where commentators or campaigns often use ‘we’ to create a sense of a common human experience. This universalising tendency reinforces existing Eurocentric geographies, obscuring the inequalities of climate change and the fact that some areas of the world are much more vulnerable to it than others. These inequalities fall along racial lines, with people of colour much more likely to be adversely affected by climate change, while majority white countries bear the greatest responsibility for historical emissions. To make the racial dimension of climate change visible, this article argues for a greater focus on the perspectives of people of colour in climate discourse.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.