The Project of Climate Change Denialism: Tackling Bushfires in the Post-truth Age

Abstract

Post-truth politics has established itself as a new cultural norm in the twenty-first century majorly through promoting scepticism over science and methods of science which are often anchored on testable facts and empirical truth. Climate change denialism remains a matter of contention in the contemporary world owing much to the post-truth narratives. The counter-narratives to climate change appear to be resilient enough to influence the political decisions of nation-states by instilling scepticism among people. Although environmentalists and scientists maintain that Australia is facing bushfires at an alarming rate because of climate change, the legislators are hesitant to address the issue as such. The official narratives on bushfires, every so often, happen to be misleading and unscientific. A possible project of climate change denialism is at work in Australia while the nation burns with bushfires. Tackling bushfires in the age of post-truth politics turns out to be more difficult since it demands great effort to deal with the post-truth narratives first, and then get into the issue at hand. This article is an attempt to examine the political dimension of climate change in the age of post-truth politics and how post-truth narratives play a vital role in dealing with bushfires in Australia.