Conceptualizing and analyzing (de-)politicization in environmental and climate politics: introduction to the research topic

Bornemann, Basil; Graf, Antonia; Lederer, Markus; Marquardt, Jens; Schwindenhammer, Sandra; Weiland, Sabine;

Abstract

After a period of relative continuity, environmental and climate policymaking has experienced considerable turbulence over the past decade. In a time increasingly perceived as crisis-ridden, climate change and other global environmental issues have become subjects of heated debate and societal conflicts. At the same time, there are efforts to counteract these dynamics by stripping environmental and climate issues of their political character and delegating them to experts. The contributions to the Research Topic “(De-)Politicizing Climate and Environmental Politics in Times of Crisis: Contexts, Strategies, and Effects” are based on the shared presumption that the concepts of “politicization” and “depoliticization” offer useful analytical lenses through which to understand and decipher these current dynamics. This introductory article to the Research Topic systematizes key understandings of (de)politicization and proposes a heuristic framework based on six key questions: Who (de)politicizes what, how, when, where, and with what effect? The framework serves to provide a structured overview of the diversity of current (de)politicization phenomena in environmental and climate policy, as detailed in the contributions to the Research Topic. Across the contributions, it becomes apparent how differently processes of (de)politicization shape the possibilities and limitations of environmental and climate policy, as well as their democratic legitimation.