The Construction of a Hegemonic Social Representation

Abstract. The present paper discusses how climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic can be read as two facets of a Hegemonic Social Representation (HSR) under construction, the representation of survival, reshaping other hegemonic, socially shared representations in the Western culture such as Science, Politics/Democracy, and Nature, on an unprecedented scale. A HSR is proposed in this paper as a useful tool to conceptualize major changes in social thinking, at the interface of individual and collective dynamics. A HSR is defined as the crystallization of a meaning-complex on what is valuable and vital for a community, generating competing for social identities, practices, and social policies. The paper revisits the concept initiated by Moscovici and focuses on the role of competing groups, generating opposing perspectives. We argue that at this crucial point, close attention to the way in which meaning is negotiated across a series of key elements of the HSR of survival will help better informing communication and action concerning climate change.