Economics, the climate change policy-assemblage and the new materialisms: towards a comprehensive policy

Abstract

Climate change policy is a contested field, with rival perspectives underpinning radically different policy propositions: from encouraging the market to innovate technical solutions to climate change through to the replacement of a market economy with an eco-socialist model. These differing policy options draw upon a variety of economic concepts and approaches, with significant consequent divergences in their policy recommendations. In this paper, we consider policy as assembled from a wide range of sociomaterial componentssome human, others non-human. Using a 'new materialist' toolkit, we explore four contemporary climate change policies to unpack these policy-assemblages, and assess the different uses made of economics in each assemblage. We conclude that none of these contemporary policies is adequate to address climate change. Yet despite the incommensurability between how these disparate policies use economic concepts and theories, we suggest a materialist synthesis based on a comprehensive climate change policyassemblage.

Assemblage drawings as talking points: Deleuze, posthumans and climate-activist teachers

“…The assemblage, often grounded within a posthumanist theoretical approach, has been taken up by critical scholars as a productive and comprehensive way of approaching the climate emergency. Drawing on scholars such as Braidotti (2013), Haraway (1991) and Bennett (2010), Fox and Alldred (2020a, 2020b, 2021c have developed a posthumanist approach to climate change policy development by viewing economics and the environment as assemblages. Daigle et al (2022) explore posthumanism, resistance to the present and the call for new humans through the lens of Deleuze and Guattari.…”

Economics and climate emergency

“…According to Goodman and Anderson, and following on from the general theme of sources of complacency and delay, 'drivers' for climate action from within capitalism have been relatively weak, but there is notably growing scope for 'deepening politicization and socialisation'. Nick Fox and Pam Alldred bring a new materialist perspective to this issue in terms of competing policy propositions (Fox & Alldred, 2020). According to Fox and Alldred, economics plays a different role in different policy assemblages and they suggest there is an opportunity for selection and synthesis to overcome apparent incommensurability.…”

“…These provide the foundation for incremental actions locally, nationally and globally to address the physical, biological, social, economic and political affects within the climate change event-assemblage. (Fox & Alldred, 2020) Ultimately, if socialization is significant and strategy matters, then the role of education also matters. In 'Teaching climate complacency', we explore the role of the mainstream economics textbook as a source of complacency and delay (Gills & Morgan, 2020b).…”

Emergent Realities: Diffracting Barad within a quantum-realist ontology of matter and politics

“…This can be related to pressing existential anthropogenic threats such as climate change and ecological decline, which necessitate meaningful engagement between the natural and social sciences. New materialist onto-epistemological approaches are emerging to address these concerns, from education to policy development (Fox & Alldred, 2020;Verlie, 2017Verlie, , 2022. While new materialist work traverses wide terrain in social and natural sciences, including biology, chemistry, poststructuralism, and feminism, unquestionably, citations of Barad (2007) have gained particular prominence in the new materialist literature.…”