Ethnicity and Attitudes about Climate Change in Africa

• In Event: Electoral Violence and Conflict in Africa

Abstract

Perhaps no problem constitutes a shared existential crisis more than the ongoing climate emergency, manifest in the dramatic and destructive changes in weather patterns largely caused by excess carbon in the atmosphere. And yet, global public opinion varies widely about multiple dimensions of the crisis, including the nature of the danger itself, the priority it should be afforded, and the role humans can play in mitigating and adapting to new pressures. Despite extant scholarship that finds ethnic diversity to be at the root of substantial public goods underprovision in Africa, to date, there has been little research exploring how ethnic difference might structure preferences for this critical problem. In this paper, we consider the relationship between ethnic difference and the dis-harmonization of such public opinion, and we do so in the context of over 30 African countries over multiple periods using Afrobarometer data matched with a wide variety of other data sources. To provide answers, we develop a novel approach for estimating attitude disharmonization. The findings will eventually have potentially important implications for understanding the politics of the response to climate change within contexts in which ethnic identity is frequently the basis for political appeals and support.

Authors

• Devin Caughey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Evan S. Lieberman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Preston Johnston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology