Global Geographies of Voice

This book examines climate change communication on Twitter (now X) through the lens of transnational public sphere theory. Building on contributions from Nancy Fraser and Iris Marion Young, it argues that the concept of a transnational public sphere is useful if two questions are addressed: legitimacy—who should be part of it—and effectiveness—who can be reached by transnational discourse. Both are treated as questions of voice, understood as the opportunity to influence the thinking of others.
The study explores whether participants from the Global Southgain international visibility (legitimacy) and under what conditions they reach audiences in the Global North, where the greatest scope for ambitious climate change mitigation policies currently exists (effectiveness). An analysis of global retweet networks shows that users from the Global South are significantly underrepresented and that higher climate vulnerability is negatively associated with visibility. Civil society organizations emerge as crucial brokers of information across regions, amplifying voices otherwise excluded from international debate.
The findings are set against the normative assumptions of public sphere theory and the principles of climate justice.