Bringing the Politics of Climate Change Down to Earth: Student Descriptions of Dwelling Place and “Geo-Graphies” as Alternative Belongings

Abstract

Purpose This study draws on Bruno Latour's work, Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime, to re-imagine issues of climate change in K-12 science teaching and learning. “Re-turning” to a dwelling place can become an investigation, while issues of gender, race, education, food, technology, and religion can be elicited in relation to climate change issues. This allows students to be able to map a political “geo-graphy” that would be meaningful and matter to them. Design/Approach/Methods We apply Latour's concepts of dwelling place and geo-graphies in the teaching and learning of climate change in the secondary science classroom. Our Latourian inquiry questioned, “How do students’ up-close and local-level descriptions of their dwelling place create geo-graphies that foster their understanding of the shared, inhabitable Earth and imagine an alternative way of belonging to the Earth?” Findings By re-orienting students’ thinking to be more inclusive about who has the capacity to act, we aim to make the issues of climate change local and relevant in students’ everyday lives. Originality/Value We respond to Latour's call to conceive of alternative ways of belonging to and inhabiting this world that are more ethical and responsible.