Institutions, climate change and cultural theory: towards a common analytical framework

Institutions are the multitude of means for holding society together, for giving it a sense of purpose and for enabling it to adapt. Institutions help to define climate change both as a problem and a context, through such socialised devices as the use of scientific knowledge, culturally defined interpretation of scientific findings, and politically tolerable adaptation strategies. This paper briefly reviews the origins and current status of the ‘new’ institutional theories that have recently developed within the social sciences. The conclusion is that they are based on such contradictory interpretations of human behaviour that, although appealing, a complete synthesis will never be possible. In effect, there is a fundamental institutional ‘failure’ over the interpretation and resolution of climate change. Cultural theory helps to explain why this is the case by throwing light on the inherent contradictions that beset us all when confronted with global warming.