Dr Vanessa Bowden
Lecturer
School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci
- Email:vanessa.bowden@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:(02) 4968 6726
Career Summary
Biography
Dr Vanessa Bowden is a sociologist in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences whose research investigates the interface between our understandings of the environment with science, policy and social justice.
While we might often think of environmental issues as directed by scientific understandings, issues such as climate change reveal the complexities around our trust in science, politics and concern for the economy. Understanding the ways in which these issues intersect is a key focus of Dr Bowden’s research.
Dr Bowden is currently working with Professor Daniel Nyberg on two ARC funded research projects; one looking at the politics of Energy Transitions in Australia and the other on how key industry sectors are Adapting to Climate Change.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Newcastle
Keywords
- Climate Change
- Environmental Sociology
- Politics
- Reflexive Modernisation
- Risk Society
- Social Theory
- Sociology
Fields of Research
Code | Description | Percentage |
---|---|---|
441007 | Sociology and social studies of science and technology | 100 |
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
---|---|
Lecturer | University of Newcastle Learning and Teaching Australia |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Highlighted Publications
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Truth and power: deliberation and emotions in climate adaptation processes', ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS, 30 708-726 (2021) [C1]
|
Nova | ||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, ' We re Going Under : The Role of Local News Media in Dislocating Climate Change Adaptation', Environmental Communication, 15 625-640 (2021) [C1] As carbon emissions continue to rise, the need to adapt to climate impacts has become increasingly urgent. Planning and implementing climate adaptation is often left to local auth... [more] As carbon emissions continue to rise, the need to adapt to climate impacts has become increasingly urgent. Planning and implementing climate adaptation is often left to local authorities and is fraught with the challenge of negotiating with multiple stakeholders holding differing interpretations of climate change. In such a space, local media has a critical role in communicating these differing perspectives within communities. In this article we explore the central role of a local newspaper in shaping public debate over the implementation of a climate adaptation plan in a coastal region of Australia. Rather than providing an arena for public discussion and constructive debate, we find that the newspaper adopted a clear position rejecting the need for changes in planning for anticipated climate impacts. We use the case study to explore how media discourse contributes to (i) the construction of an antagonistic debate undermining climate science, and (ii) strengthening the hegemony of economic value and property rights. In response, we suggest shoring up political alliances for climate change, including in the local media, as a basis for social change.
|
Nova | ||||||
2021 |
Wright C, Nyberg D, Bowden V, 'Beyond the discourse of denial: The reproduction of fossil fuel hegemony in Australia', Energy Research and Social Science, 77 (2021) [C1]
|
|||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Gond J-P, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Turning Back the Rising Sea: Theory performativity in the shift from climate science to popular authority', ORGANIZATION STUDIES, 42 1909-1931 (2021) [C1]
|
Nova | ||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, ' I don t think anybody really knows : Constructing reflexive ignorance in climate change adaptation', British Journal of Sociology, 72 397-411 (2021) [C1] Responding to the existential threat of climate change is often seen as requiring greater reflexivity. Imbued with notions of resilience and reflection, reflexivity is assumed to ... [more] Responding to the existential threat of climate change is often seen as requiring greater reflexivity. Imbued with notions of resilience and reflection, reflexivity is assumed to contribute to pro-environmental change. However, as the need to manage climate impacts becomes more immediate, political struggles over climate adaptation have become increasingly apparent. These impacts occur most often within local communities, in the context of competing economic interests and differing interpretations of climate science. Thus while it is increasingly difficult to deny climate change, conflicting priorities can lead to ignorance. In these circumstances, how communities build and share knowledge, and negotiate responses is central. Based on a study of a vulnerable region in Australia, we identify three processes through which the local community mobilized to disrupt local climate change adaptation. These included emphasizing uncertainty about the science of climate change, encouraging fear about property prices, and repositioning property owners as victims of climate adaptation policy. We argue that this response to climate adaptation constitutes the production of reflexive ignorance, which reinforces skepticism around scientific authority and defends particular economic interests.
|
Nova | ||||||
2022 | Nyberg D, Wright C, Bowden V, Organising Responses to Climate Change: The Politics of Mitigation, Adaptation and Suffering, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 215 (2022) [A1] | Nova | ||||||
2022 |
Wright C, Irwin R, Nyberg D, Bowden V, ' We re in the coal business : Maintaining fossil fuel hegemony in the face of climate change', Journal of Industrial Relations, 64 544-563 (2022) [C1] Despite the worsening climate crisis and market shifts towards decarbonization, Australia remains heavily invested in carbon-intensive activities. As one of the world's large... [more] Despite the worsening climate crisis and market shifts towards decarbonization, Australia remains heavily invested in carbon-intensive activities. As one of the world's largest exporters of coal and gas, Australian political economy has been dominated over the last several decades by fossil fuel expansionism. In this article, we explore how Australian corporate and political elites have defended the continuation of fossil fuel extraction and use in the face of calls for a transition to a low-carbon energy future. Through an analysis of public statements by industry associations, corporate leaders, politicians and trade union officials, we identify how these actors have constructed a hegemonic temporal narrative stressing the historical importance of fossil fuels and that a transition to renewable energy represents a threat to Australia's future. Our analysis contributes to the growing literature within the field of industrial relations attending to the complex industrial dynamics underlying the maintenance of fossil fuel hegemony. We also contribute to recent discussions on hegemony by demonstrating the importance of temporality in linking diverse actors together in defending hegemony. Finally, we highlight the critical importance of corporate power in fundamentally shaping climate and energy politics.
|
Nova |
Book (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Nyberg D, Wright C, Bowden V, Organising Responses to Climate Change: The Politics of Mitigation, Adaptation and Suffering, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 215 (2022) [A1] | Nova |
Journal article (19 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 |
Bowden V, 'Coal Exists, Therefore it Must be dug up', Science & Technology Studies,
|
||||||||||
2023 |
Hamilton O, Nyberg D, Bowden V, 'Elements of power: Material-political entanglements in Australia's fossil fuel hegemony', Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 6 2295-2317 (2023) [C1] Anthropocentric climate change presents an existential threat through impacts such as rising sea levels, effects on agricultural crops and extreme weather events. However, governm... [more] Anthropocentric climate change presents an existential threat through impacts such as rising sea levels, effects on agricultural crops and extreme weather events. However, governments, businesses and communities struggle to wean off fossil fuel dependency. In this article, we argue that this is due to the grip of fossil fuel hegemony. To explain this grip, we draw on the theoretical perspectives of new materialism to examine how fossil fuels and politics interact in upholding Australia's fossil fuel regime. Our analysis, based on 70 qualitative interviews conducted with politicians and political advisors, fossil fuel executives and experts and environmental activists, shows three processes ¿ establishment, entrenchment and encroachment ¿ through which political-material entanglements lock in a fossil fuel-based future. These processes are both discursive, with politicians and industry downplaying, if not outright denying, the climate emergency and material, with investment in new mines and infrastructure even while the negative ecological impacts of fossil fuel use gather pace.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2022 |
Wright C, Irwin R, Nyberg D, Bowden V, ' We re in the coal business : Maintaining fossil fuel hegemony in the face of climate change', Journal of Industrial Relations, 64 544-563 (2022) [C1] Despite the worsening climate crisis and market shifts towards decarbonization, Australia remains heavily invested in carbon-intensive activities. As one of the world's large... [more] Despite the worsening climate crisis and market shifts towards decarbonization, Australia remains heavily invested in carbon-intensive activities. As one of the world's largest exporters of coal and gas, Australian political economy has been dominated over the last several decades by fossil fuel expansionism. In this article, we explore how Australian corporate and political elites have defended the continuation of fossil fuel extraction and use in the face of calls for a transition to a low-carbon energy future. Through an analysis of public statements by industry associations, corporate leaders, politicians and trade union officials, we identify how these actors have constructed a hegemonic temporal narrative stressing the historical importance of fossil fuels and that a transition to renewable energy represents a threat to Australia's future. Our analysis contributes to the growing literature within the field of industrial relations attending to the complex industrial dynamics underlying the maintenance of fossil fuel hegemony. We also contribute to recent discussions on hegemony by demonstrating the importance of temporality in linking diverse actors together in defending hegemony. Finally, we highlight the critical importance of corporate power in fundamentally shaping climate and energy politics.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2022 |
Irwin R, Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Making green extreme: defending fossil fuel hegemony through citizen exclusion', CITIZENSHIP STUDIES, 26 73-89 (2022) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Truth and power: deliberation and emotions in climate adaptation processes', ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS, 30 708-726 (2021) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, ' We re Going Under : The Role of Local News Media in Dislocating Climate Change Adaptation', Environmental Communication, 15 625-640 (2021) [C1] As carbon emissions continue to rise, the need to adapt to climate impacts has become increasingly urgent. Planning and implementing climate adaptation is often left to local auth... [more] As carbon emissions continue to rise, the need to adapt to climate impacts has become increasingly urgent. Planning and implementing climate adaptation is often left to local authorities and is fraught with the challenge of negotiating with multiple stakeholders holding differing interpretations of climate change. In such a space, local media has a critical role in communicating these differing perspectives within communities. In this article we explore the central role of a local newspaper in shaping public debate over the implementation of a climate adaptation plan in a coastal region of Australia. Rather than providing an arena for public discussion and constructive debate, we find that the newspaper adopted a clear position rejecting the need for changes in planning for anticipated climate impacts. We use the case study to explore how media discourse contributes to (i) the construction of an antagonistic debate undermining climate science, and (ii) strengthening the hegemony of economic value and property rights. In response, we suggest shoring up political alliances for climate change, including in the local media, as a basis for social change.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2021 |
Wright C, Nyberg D, Bowden V, 'Beyond the discourse of denial: The reproduction of fossil fuel hegemony in Australia', Energy Research and Social Science, 77 (2021) [C1]
|
||||||||||
2021 |
Scurr I, Bowden V, ' The revolution s never done : the role of radical imagination within anti-capitalist environmental justice activism', Environmental Sociology, 7 316-326 (2021) [C1] Many individuals become involved in activism due to concerns about contemporary structural conditions and likely (negative) futures arising from them. While negative perceptions a... [more] Many individuals become involved in activism due to concerns about contemporary structural conditions and likely (negative) futures arising from them. While negative perceptions are important for driving initial involvement, visions of positive alternative futures to work towards can be crucial for motivating and shaping activist engagement. Positive visions serve as a goal as well as a potential blueprint to inform practices such that the ¿means match the ends.¿ In this paper, we explore Khasnabish and Haiven¿s concept of the ¿radical imagination¿ as a practice in sustaining and shaping social movement engagement through a shared vision of an alternative future. We emphasise the processes of organising and grounding action in practices of the present, which forms part of a ¿praxis of prefiguration¿¿informing many aspects of community building and activism. While the radical imagination shared by anti-capitalist activists is sometimes depicted as a utopian dream, we suggest that it is, rather, a hopeful imagining in constant conversation with ideological positions and organising practices, situated against and within the margins of capitalist society. These ideological commitments and future imaginings shape the ways that anti-capitalists engage with overlapping environmental and social issues and the wider landscape of political action.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Gond J-P, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Turning Back the Rising Sea: Theory performativity in the shift from climate science to popular authority', ORGANIZATION STUDIES, 42 1909-1931 (2021) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2021 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, ' I don t think anybody really knows : Constructing reflexive ignorance in climate change adaptation', British Journal of Sociology, 72 397-411 (2021) [C1] Responding to the existential threat of climate change is often seen as requiring greater reflexivity. Imbued with notions of resilience and reflection, reflexivity is assumed to ... [more] Responding to the existential threat of climate change is often seen as requiring greater reflexivity. Imbued with notions of resilience and reflection, reflexivity is assumed to contribute to pro-environmental change. However, as the need to manage climate impacts becomes more immediate, political struggles over climate adaptation have become increasingly apparent. These impacts occur most often within local communities, in the context of competing economic interests and differing interpretations of climate science. Thus while it is increasingly difficult to deny climate change, conflicting priorities can lead to ignorance. In these circumstances, how communities build and share knowledge, and negotiate responses is central. Based on a study of a vulnerable region in Australia, we identify three processes through which the local community mobilized to disrupt local climate change adaptation. These included emphasizing uncertainty about the science of climate change, encouraging fear about property prices, and repositioning property owners as victims of climate adaptation policy. We argue that this response to climate adaptation constitutes the production of reflexive ignorance, which reinforces skepticism around scientific authority and defends particular economic interests.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2019 |
Bowden V, Nyberg D, Wright C, 'Planning for the past: Local temporality and the construction of denial in climate change adaptation', Global Environmental Change, 57 1-9 (2019) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2018 |
Bowden VM, ''Life. Brought to you by' ...coal? Business responses to climate change in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia', Environmental Sociology, 4 275-285 (2018) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2016 |
Leahy TS, Bowden V, 'Don't Shoot the Messenger: How Business Leaders Get Their Bearings on a Matter of Science', Journal of Sociology, 52 .219-234 (2016) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
2016 |
Siegel P, Broom A, Bowden V, Adams J, de Barros NF, 'Attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine amongst oncology professionals in Brazil', Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 27 30-34 (2016) [C1] Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are popular amongst cancer patients in the Brazilian context, however little is known about oncology health professionals' attit... [more] Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are popular amongst cancer patients in the Brazilian context, however little is known about oncology health professionals' attitudes toward the role of CAM and their perspectives on the potential for integration into oncological care. In this study, drawing on a series of interviews with oncology professionals (i.e. doctors, nurses, nutritionists, pharmacologists and psychologists), we provide insight into their views on the rise, validity, and role of CAM in cancer care. The results reveal two key dynamics in relation to CAM in cancer care in Brazil. First, that doctors, nurses and other allied professionals hold considerably different views on the value and place of CAM, and in turn ascribe it varying levels of legitimacy potentially limiting integration. Second, that while some health professionals may articulate a degree of support for CAM, this is limited by perceptions of CAM as lacking efficacy and intruding on their respective jurisdictional claims. Further research is needed in the Brazilian context to explore patient and professional perspectives on experiences on CAM in cancer care, including how oncology professionals' varying positions on CAM may influence what patients are prepared to use, or discuss, in the context of cancer care.
|
Nova | |||||||||
2010 |
Leahy TS, Bowden VM, Threadgold SR, 'Stumbling towards collapse: Coming to terms with the climate crisis', Environmental Politics, 19 851-868 (2010) [C1]
|
Nova | |||||||||
Show 16 more journal articles |
Conference (2 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Bowden VM, 'Prospects for an ecological modernisation approach to climate change - Analysing the views of business leaders in the Hunter Region', Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference: Local Lives/Global Networks, Newcastle, NSW (2011) [E3] | ||
2009 | Bowden VM, 'Fractions in a coal dependent region: How business people in the Hunter are responding to climate change', The Future of Sociology, Canberra, ACT (2009) [E1] | Nova |
Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 4 |
---|---|
Total funding | $63,142 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20233 grants / $61,642
Climate Social Science Network: Informing Strategic Climate Action$34,142
Funding body: CSSN Climate Social Science Network
Funding body | CSSN Climate Social Science Network |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Vanessa Bowden, Professor Daniel Nyberg |
Scheme | Social Science Research into the Structural, Political, and Institutional Dynamics of Climate Change Politics Outside the United States and Canada |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2023 |
Funding Finish | 2023 |
GNo | G2201300 |
Type Of Funding | C3500 – International Not-for profit |
Category | 3500 |
UON | Y |
About time: Climate change adaptation in Australian industries$25,000
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
---|---|
Project Team | Doctor Vanessa Bowden, Professor Daniel Nyberg, Christopher Wright |
Scheme | Discovery Projects |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2023 |
Funding Finish | 2024 |
GNo | G2301335 |
Type Of Funding | C1200 - Aust Competitive - ARC |
Category | 1200 |
UON | Y |
CHSF Conference Travel Grant $2,500
Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle
Funding body | College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | CHSF - Conference Travel Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2023 |
Funding Finish | 2023 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20171 grants / $1,500
New Staff Early-Stage Researcher Scheme$1,500
Funding body: English Language and Foundation Studies Centre, University of Newcastle
Funding body | English Language and Foundation Studies Centre, University of Newcastle |
---|---|
Scheme | New Staff Early-Stage Researcher Scheme |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2017 |
Funding Finish | 2018 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Masters | How Does Place Inform Perspectives of Air Pollution in the Upper Hunter Valley? | M Philosophy (Sociol & Anthro), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
Dr Vanessa Bowden
Position
Lecturer
School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci
College of Human and Social Futures
Contact Details
vanessa.bowden@newcastle.edu.au | |
Phone | (02) 4968 6726 |
Office
Room | SR-147 |
---|---|
Building | Behavioural Sciences Building |
Location | Callaghan University Drive Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia |