Week 14

This week, I decided to focus on Luis. E Hestres article, Climate change advocacy online: theories of change, target audiences, and online strategy, which focuses on the ways in which technology and the emergence of the Internet has altered the ways in which social and political advocacy is formed and implemented. The article opened with the fact that in 1988  there was a “99% certainty that global temperatures in recent years were caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” (Hestres, p.2) The article then delves into the effects climate change has had in more recent years, with an emphasis on natural disasters.

From here, the article circles back to the emergence of the Internet and technology, and it’s simultaneous rise within the public sphere as awareness of climate change. (Hestres, p.194) Stemming from this was the establishment of  new kinds of political organizations, ones that were reliant on the Internet as a means for consistent and efficient communication. (Hestres, 194)

What I found most interesting about this article, was  Hestres’ in depth explanation of the political process theory, which relays information regarding the ways in which political systems shape socio-political movements. Prior to this reading, I had understood the ways in which multiple facets of society impact the widespread perception of climate change, but I appreciated the emphasis that was placed on the relationship between political conditions and climate change.