Themes of climate change agency: a qualitative study on how people construct agency in relation to climate change

This study analyzes how people discursively construct their (non)agency—how they display abilities and capacities to act, or the lack thereof—vis-à-vis climate change. The paper presents the results of a detailed discursive and thematic analysis of 28 interview transcripts, identifying 12 broad agency themes representing different ways of constructing human (non)agency in relation to climate change. The most common agency theme was Collective, followed by Individual, Critical, and Threatened agency. Climate change skepticism was displayed mostly within Critical agency. The constructions of Collective agency emerged as a form of agency that displays a sense of meaningfulness related to socially embedded actions. The paper suggests ways for climate communications to take into account these multiple themes of agency.

Heidi Toivonen