Conservative Foundations and Climate Skepticism Spreading
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Podcast "Philanthropy in question(s)" - Episode 26
Conservative Foundations and Climate Skepticism Spreading - Natalie Rauscher
What role do foundations play in American politics, and how have they contributed to its polarization? On the issue of climate change, how has this influence contributed to the spread of climate skepticism, and how is this phenomenon now reaching Europe?
In this 26th episode, Anne Monier presents an article by Natalie Rauscher published in 2023 in the German political science journal Politische Vierteljahrenschrift, entitled "American Philanthropy in the Age of Political Polarization : Conservative Megadonors and Foundations, and Their Role in Spreading Climate Skepticism".
The researcher shows how some American foundations have gradually moved away from their charitable purpose to support the political and social ambitions of wealthy donors, while benefiting from tax deductions and an image of political neutrality. This gives some groups and individuals a powerful influence on American society and political processes, prevents transparent public debate on crucial issues - such as climate change - and allows the dissemination of ideas that defy scientific evidence.
The main ideas of the article:
Anne Monier presents in this episode the main ideas of this research:
The growing role of conservative foundations in the polarization of US politics.
The role of conservative philanthropists in spreading climate skepticism.
The alliance between American and European conservatives to spread climate skepticism in Europe.
➡️ Listen to the episode above to learn more!
Other resources on the topic
Brulle, Robert J. et al. 2021. Obstructing action: foundation funding and U.S. climate change countermovement organizations. Research Square, Climatic Change, 166:17
Dunlap, Riley E., and Aaron M. McCright. 2015. Challenging climate change: the denial countermovement. In Climate change and society: sociological perspect ives, ed. R.E. Dunlap, R.J. Brulle. New York: Oxford University Press.
Farrell, Justin. 2019. The growth of climate change misinformation in US philanthropy: evidence from natural language processing. Environmental Research Letters 14:34013. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748- 9326/aaf939.
Hertel-Fernandez, Alexander, Theda Skocpol, and Jason Sclar. 2018. When political mega-donors join forces: how the Koch network and the democracy alliance influence organized U.S. politics on the right and left. Studies in American Political Development 32:127–165.
Kavate, Michael. 2021. Who's funding the climate countermovement. Inside Philanthropy.
The Daily Climate & Fischer Douglas. 2013. "Dark money" funds climate change denial effort. Scientific american.
Rich, Andrew. 2005. War of Ideas: Why mainstream and liberal foundations and the think tanks they support are losing in the war of ideas in American politics. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 3(I):18–25.
Teles, Steven, Heather Hurlburt, and Mark Schmitt. 2014. Philanthropy in a time of polarization. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Other episodes with related themes
Philanthropy and Democracy (Sylvain A. Lefèvre, Anne Monier)
Climate Philanthropy (Edouard Morena)
Climate Crisis and Inequalities (Anne Monier)
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Every last Wednesday of the month, in an episode of about 10 minutes, we share the discoveries of a researcher on philanthropy in France or internationally, all disciplines included. The goal? To give research a place in everyday life, to contribute to critical thinking and to shed light on societal issues through the prism of philanthropy. Dive with us into the heart of research on giving!
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Based on interviews with philanthropists and professionals in the philanthropy sector, this podcast from the ESSEC Philanthropy Chair introduces you to the 5 key dimensions of philanthropy strategy: value, logical framework, style, time horizon and vehicle. The embodiment of the learnings from the book Towards Strategic Philanthropy published by Peter Frumkin, Anne-Claire Pache and Arthur Gautier at Odile Jacob in 2020. To your headphones!
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