Programme full

Thursday 16 April 2016 15:30 - 17:00
PAPER SESSION 6 / PECHA KUCHA SESSIONS
include more quantitative data in their research? And can qualitative data be presented in different ways to make it
more amenable to policy makers?
Building Bridges between Climate Scientists and Sceptical Voices: Implications for Public Perceptions of
Climate Change
Sharman, A., Howarth, C.
(London School of Economics and Political Science)
Representations of the climate debate, particularly those in the public sphere, tend to focus on a dualistic and
polarised disagreement about the scientific reality of anthropogenic climate change. These depictions fail to capture
the associated, and often more nuanced, political dimensions of the debate, resulting in a lack of understanding of
what constitutes a normal sceptical scientific process and how this relates to the process of developing political
solutions. Moreover, this emphasis on polarised disagreement obscures important areas of uncertainty that do require
further scientific investigation and policy development, as well as the motivations that underpin the different arguments
expressed. If the public perceive that an active debate about climate change focuses only on science, it is likely to
subsequently influence perceived need for and appropriate type of climate change policy response. This paper
presents results from 22 interviews with climate scientists and sceptical voices on their experience within the climate
change debate, focusing in particular on perceptions of themselves and those expressing arguments that differ from
their own, as well as how the debate is framed. It provides a critical analysis of the motivations behind the different
actors' experiences of the climate debate and suggests areas where self-reflexivity, as well as identifying common
motivations may be used as a means for useful dialogue across areas of both scientific and political debate. It also
assesses the extent to which perception of the existence of a polarised debate impacts public perception of the issue
itself.
Families and Relationships
M225, GEORGE MOORE BUILDING
'I Suppose It's Always Developing Really, It's Constantly Changing I Think': The Fluid and Relational Nature of
Fathering in 'Normative' Context
Earley, V.
(University of Sheffield)
Theorising about fathering has been shaped by a multitude of academic disciplines, cultural institutions and, perhaps
most vociferously, by parents themselves. However, there is a predilection for conceptualising parenting, in general,
as outcome driven, done to children as passive recipients of the process. While the discipline of Childhood Studies
has allowed for the reconceptualisation of children as autonomous social actors within the constraints of the social
structures in which they live their everyday lives, explorations of parenting have remained stoically resistant hearing
children's voices in 'normative' circumstances. Fathering, specifically, has also primarily been explored in
problematised contexts and little is known about the 'normative' experience against which the outcome discourse of
paternal involvement in children's lives is measured.
My ongoing PhD case study research with families suggests that children, fathers and mothers understand fathering in
diverse, relational and adaptive ways and that notions of fathering are individually located in time and space, arising
from the experiences and understandings of family life and family roles. I argue that an idealised understanding of
what fathering should be as a fixed and unmalleable notion is pervasive within cultural and structural representations
of fathering and fatherhood and that this construction may be challenged through in depth exploration of fathering with
families in what I describe as 'normative context'.
This paper will discuss some of the key themes emerging from the interviews undertaken with families, with particular
focus given to the fluidity of fathering as a process that is negotiated and embedded over time.
Fathering and Sport: Families, Men and Masculinity
Fletcher, T.
(Leeds Beckett University)
The concept of fathering and the role(s) of fathers are changing. With the shifting status of women, particularly in
employment, increasing breakdown and reconstitution of families, traditional views of men as occupying instrumental
roles of breadwinner and disciplinarian are evolving. However, as the very essence of fathering is being challenged,
203 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University