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Image showing Kristoffer Ekberg in front of bookshelf

Kristoffer Ekberg

Associate senior lecturer

Image showing Kristoffer Ekberg in front of bookshelf

A Road to Denial : Climate Change and Neoliberal Thought in Sweden, 1988-2000

Author

  • Kristoffer Ekberg
  • Victor Pressfeldt

Summary, in English

Neoliberal and conservative actors, financed by the fossil fuel industry, have been identified as crucial parts of a climate change denialist counter movement since at least the 1980s. We claim that this intersection stems from more than just vested interest fuelling advocacy groups. By focusing on the intellectual developments and social networks of core actors in the environmental debate in Sweden, we trace the history of opposition to environmental regulation in a country proclaiming to be an environmental pioneer. Our analysis shows that while the framing of climate change in terms of complexity initially provided actors with arguments for neoliberal policies, the obstruction of climate and environmental action was steeped in a neoliberal thought style. Our findings demonstrate the importance of scrutinising economic paradigms and thought styles that has enabled the delay of climate policy as well as the continued need for historical and geographically specific studies of obstruction.

Department/s

  • Department of History

Publishing year

2022-11

Language

English

Pages

627-644

Publication/Series

Contemporary European History

Volume

31

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
  • History of Technology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0960-7773