Bernhard Forchtner – författare

In Climate Obstruction: How Denial, Delay and Inaction are Heating the Planet, Kristoffer Ekberg, Bernhard Forchtner, Martin Hultman and Kirsti Jylhä bring together crucial insights from environmental history, sociology, media and communication studies and psychology to help us understand why we are failing to take necessary measures to avert the unfolding climate crisis.

They do so by examining the variety of ways in which meaningful climate action has been obstructed. This ranges from denial of the scientific evidence for human-induced climate change and its policy consequences, to (seemingly sincere) acknowledgement of scientific evidence while nevertheless delaying meaningful climate action. The authors also consider all those actions by which often well-meaning individuals and collectives (unintendedly) hamper climate action. In doing so, this book maps out arguments and strategies that have been used to counter environmental protection and regulation since the 1960s by, first and foremost, corporations supported by conservative actors, but also far-right ones as well as ordinary citizens.

This timely and accessible book provides tools and lessons to understand, identify and call out such arguments and strategies, and points to actions and systemic and cultural changes needed to avert or at least mitigate the climate crisis.

In Climate Obstruction: How Denial, Delay and Inaction are Heating the Planet, Kristoffer Ekberg, Bernhard Forchtner, Martin Hultman and Kirsti Jylhä bring together crucial insights from environmental history, sociology, media and communication studies and psychology to help us understand why we are failing to take necessary measures to avert the unfolding climate crisis.

They do so by examining the variety of ways in which meaningful climate action has been obstructed. This ranges from denial of the scientific evidence for human-induced climate change and its policy consequences, to (seemingly sincere) acknowledgement of scientific evidence while nevertheless delaying meaningful climate action. The authors also consider all those actions by which often well-meaning individuals and collectives (unintendedly) hamper climate action. In doing so, this book maps out arguments and strategies that have been used to counter environmental protection and regulation since the 1960s by, first and foremost, corporations supported by conservative actors, but also far-right ones as well as ordinary citizens.

This timely and accessible book provides tools and lessons to understand, identify and call out such arguments and strategies, and points to actions and systemic and cultural changes needed to avert or at least mitigate the climate crisis.

Imagining Alternative Worlds explores how the far right employs fictionality as a powerful political tool in the 21st century.

It does so by examining the far right’s own cultural production and commentary through a large collection of its novels, novellas, short stories, and film reviews, illustrating how the ‘alternative worlds’ articulated in such cultural products convey its ideology. More specifically, the book identifies and analyses four distinct far-right cultural imaginaries – a ‘primordial’, a ‘nostalgic’, a ‘promethean’, and a ‘nihilist’ one – that each subtly conveys different yet linked ideas about space, time, ‘race’, gender, and heroic identity. By drawing attention to the cultural heterogeneity of the contemporary far right, Imagining Alternative Worlds offers key insights into the dreams, identities, and norms such actors hope will define our future.

The book will be of interest to researchers of the far right, of literary, media and communication studies, and of social and cultural history.

Imagining Alternative Worlds explores how the far right employs fictionality as a powerful political tool in the 21st century.

It does so by examining the far right’s own cultural production and commentary through a large collection of its novels, novellas, short stories, and film reviews, illustrating how the ‘alternative worlds’ articulated in such cultural products convey its ideology. More specifically, the book identifies and analyses four distinct far-right cultural imaginaries – a ‘primordial’, a ‘nostalgic’, a ‘promethean’, and a ‘nihilist’ one – that each subtly conveys different yet linked ideas about space, time, ‘race’, gender, and heroic identity. By drawing attention to the cultural heterogeneity of the contemporary far right, Imagining Alternative Worlds offers key insights into the dreams, identities, and norms such actors hope will define our future.

The book will be of interest to researchers of the far right, of literary, media and communication studies, and of social and cultural history.

This book explores far-right authoritarian and exclusionary interpretations of environmental crises that are gaining traction globally.

While research on the political ecology of the far right has grown substantially over the last decade, it has largely focused on ‘Western’, especially European, actors and contexts. As far-right ideas increasingly circulate worldwide, there is an urgent need to ‘provincialize Europe’ and approach current developments from a global perspective. This volume shows how environmental governance and conservation are being mobilised by right-wing, nationalist and authoritarian forces worldwide as tools for exclusion, territorial control and the reproduction of colonial hierarchies. Drawing on case studies spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe, this volume identifies salient issues and trends shaping reactionary environmental politics. The book also spotlights activists and grassroots organisations responding to these challenges, bringing diverse voices into this vital conversation.

This volume will appeal to researchers of the far right, political ecology and environmental politics, as well as activists and organisers involved in environmental justice.

This book explores far-right authoritarian and exclusionary interpretations of environmental crises that are gaining traction globally.

While research on the political ecology of the far right has grown substantially over the last decade, it has largely focused on ‘Western’, especially European, actors and contexts. As far-right ideas increasingly circulate worldwide, there is an urgent need to ‘provincialize Europe’ and approach current developments from a global perspective. This volume shows how environmental governance and conservation are being mobilised by right-wing, nationalist and authoritarian forces worldwide as tools for exclusion, territorial control and the reproduction of colonial hierarchies. Drawing on case studies spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe, this volume identifies salient issues and trends shaping reactionary environmental politics. The book also spotlights activists and grassroots organisations responding to these challenges, bringing diverse voices into this vital conversation.

This volume will appeal to researchers of the far right, political ecology and environmental politics, as well as activists and organisers involved in environmental justice.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, both the crisis of liberal democracy, as visible in, for example, the rise of far-right actors in Europe and the United States, and environmental crises, from declining biodiversity to climate change, are increasingly in the public spotlight. Whilst both areas have been analysed extensively on their own, The Far Right and the Environment: Politics, Discourse and Communication provides much needed insights into their intersection by illuminating the environmental communication of far-right party and non-party actors in Europe and the United States. Although commonly perceived as a ‘left-wing’ issue today, concerns over the natural environment by the far right have a long, ideology-driven history. Thus, it is not surprising that some members of the far right offer distinctive ecological visions of communal life, though, for example, climate-change scepticism is voiced too. Investigating this range of stances within their discourse about the natural environment provides a window into the wider politics of the far right and points to a close connection between the politics of identity and the imagination of nature. Connecting the fields of environmental communication and study of the far right, contributions to this edited volume therefore offer timely assessments of this often-overlooked dimension of far-right politics.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, both the crisis of liberal democracy, as visible in, for example, the rise of far-right actors in Europe and the United States, and environmental crises, from declining biodiversity to climate change, are increasingly in the public spotlight. Whilst both areas have been analysed extensively on their own, The Far Right and the Environment: Politics, Discourse and Communication provides much needed insights into their intersection by illuminating the environmental communication of far-right party and non-party actors in Europe and the United States. Although commonly perceived as a ‘left-wing’ issue today, concerns over the natural environment by the far right have a long, ideology-driven history. Thus, it is not surprising that some members of the far right offer distinctive ecological visions of communal life, though, for example, climate-change scepticism is voiced too. Investigating this range of stances within their discourse about the natural environment provides a window into the wider politics of the far right and points to a close connection between the politics of identity and the imagination of nature. Connecting the fields of environmental communication and study of the far right, contributions to this edited volume therefore offer timely assessments of this often-overlooked dimension of far-right politics.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics provides a comprehensive overview of this important and dynamic area of study and research. Language is indispensable to initiating, justifying, legitimatising and coordinating action as well as negotiating conflict and, as such, is intrinsically linked to the area of politics. With 45 chapters written by leading scholars from around the world, this Handbook covers the following key areas:

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics is a vibrant survey of this key field and is essential reading for advanced students and researchers studying language and politics.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics provides a comprehensive overview of this important and dynamic area of study and research. Language is indispensable to initiating, justifying, legitimatising and coordinating action as well as negotiating conflict and, as such, is intrinsically linked to the area of politics. With 45 chapters written by leading scholars from around the world, this Handbook covers the following key areas:

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics is a vibrant survey of this key field and is essential reading for advanced students and researchers studying language and politics.