Sociology of Climate Change: High Carbon Society and its transformation challenge (Revised Edition)

如何扭轉威權體制餘緒下專家政治所造成的「僵局風險治理」？
政府與社會之互不信任，為臺灣近年最大的挑戰。

氣候變遷威脅形塑了全球治理與社會轉型挑戰，在國際脈絡下，臺灣面臨國際綠色公約制裁之垂直壓力，而對應性地導致國內社會經濟轉型要求之水平壓力；這兩者的螺旋效應直接撼動經濟、產業與能源的結構變革。

本書所稱「氣候變遷社會學」，關鍵在於批判論證社會轉型的結構性路徑依賴、鎖入效應，以及社會能動、強健性知識的挑戰。第一部曲探討臺灣高碳社會的結構路徑，分析高耗能與高排碳產業之政策、轉型怠惰與困境。第二部曲探討公眾風險感知之典範轉移象徵、水資源爭議與永續衝突。第三部曲聚焦在公民認識論與社會強健性分析，凸顯臺灣從反污染到氣候風險之環境運動變遷元素，探討多元團體強健的風險知識動員如何翻轉重大開發案決策，以及壓迫政府啟動PM2.5空污管制。


The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) marked a pivotal decision in its resolution on Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems. This resolution is a new milestone following the COP26 resolution on Net Zero Emissions by 2050 in 2021.Then, it will be a way to set a specific and gradual timetable and framework for the transition away from fossil fuels in the future. This poses a significant international and regional alarm for Taiwan. However, the Taiwan government has historically cultivated a high-carbon social structure by strongly supporting industries with high-pollution and high-carbon-emission. This has led to a conflict between the civic and social movement and high-energy-consuming industries, defining Taiwan’s energy transition.

This book aims to document the transformative process of Taiwan from a high-carbon to a low-carbon society, providing a novel perspective on Taiwan's climate governance paradigm. It focuses on Taiwan's risk management issues and exploring how past government support high-pollution, high-energy-consumption and high-water-use industries has led to a structural path dependence prioritizing economic development and the formation of a high-carbon social structure. The book details how the civic knowledge of social movements in Taiwan, especially the Anti-Kuokuang Movement, has provided various structural critiques and solutions to the ongoing promotion of a high-carbon social structure. It gathers insights into risk perception, sustainability conflicts within Taiwan, and the gradual transition towards civic epistemology and social robust knowledge. This book presents facets of Taiwan's unique paradigm shift in climate governance and civic epistemology, summarizing Taiwan's progress in climate change governance.