Table of Contents

Introduction

Civil War, Racist Tweets and Flood Devastation

Chapter 1. From Climate to Climatism

How an Ideology is Made

Chapter 2. How did Climatism Arise?

Fetishizing Global Temperature

Chapter 3. Are the Sciences Climatist?

The Noble Lie and Other Misdemeanours

Chapter 4. Why is Climatism So Alluring?

Master-narratives and Polarizing Moralism

Chapter 5. Why is Climatism Dangerous?

The Narrowing of Political Vision

Chapter 6. If Not Climatism, Then What?

Wicked Problems Need Clumsy Solutions

Chapter 7. Some Objections

‘You Sound Just Like ….’

Further Reading

Notes

About the Author

Mike Hulme is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Cambridge.

Reviews

“Hulme takes us on an intellectual journey in which he illuminates the social and political handling of the climate issue. He […] explains why he considers dogmatizing the climate issue to be dangerous and finally presents a solution that he believes could lead to a globally viable climate protection policy without being in conflict with other UN sustainability goals, such as combating poverty.”
GlobKult Magazin

“Hulme has put his finger on a contemporary obsession that transforms all of human affairs into a Manichean struggle to address climate change, turning solvable problems into a singular battle for the planetary future, diverting our focus away from all of the incremental struggles that comprise human progress toward one true struggle to remake human societies and harmonize them with Nature.”
Ted Nordhaus, Breakthrough Institute

“Today’s monomaniac climate gladiators may view this book with suspicion, but history will judge Mike Hulme to be the best mind and the wisest, most humane voice in the late-20th/early-21st-century climate change discourses.”
Daniel Sarewitz, Arizona State University
“A concise digest of the current climate discourse and […] where things are going wrong. Hulme is a skillful writer; his lines of thought are clear, his language intelligible. Hulme makes a strong case for recognizing climate change as a ‘wicked problem’, unsolvable with a simplistic and totalizing master-narrative that puts climate above everything else.”
Volker Han, The Honest Broker

“The tension between critique and sympathy regarding climate science situates the manuscript in a space unfamiliar to some readers, ultimately proving its uniqueness and appeal. This is an important and timely book.”
Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences

“Apocalyptic framing of climate change, driven by normative goals, may hinder climate action, evoke despair, and promote ineffective solutions. … We should not assume that optimists are climate change denialists or somehow minimizing the severity of the climate crisis.”
The Academic

“An important and timely book … rigorous, inspired, thought-provoking.”
Electronic Green Journal