Opening the 'black box' of climate change science: actor-network theory and rhetorical practice in scientific controversies

• Besel, Richard D. ^[1]
  1. [1] California Polytechnic State University

     California Polytechnic State University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Southern communication journal, ISSN 1041-794X, Vol. 76, nº 2, 2011, págs. 120-136
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In this essay, Joseph Barton's controversial congressional investigation of the well-known 'hockey-stick' study of climate change, produced by Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley, and Malcolm Hughes, is analyzed though the critical lens of actor-network theory. Turning to the works of Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and John Law, this essay illustrates how the hockey-stick node of this rhetorical climate change actor-network was successfully defended by invoking the entire actor-network as an inventional resource. Suggestions for improving environmental communication and the theoretical linkages between rhetorical criticism, rhetoric of science, and actor-network theory are discussed.