Dialogic patterns of the oppressor-oppressed dynamic in climate change denial

The oppressor-oppressed dynamic is one of the driving forces that lie behind power, motivating those who possess it to control access to life resources, essential information, and other options and choices that are necessary to adapt to a world in continuous transformation. By referring primarily to the context of corporate America, the aim of this the study is to expose the ongoing confrontation between power structures that are responsible for spreading climate denial theories, and climate science that is involved in promoting not only global climate cooperation and regulation but also climate literacy among the general public. The concerted effort of climate denialists to discredit scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic causes of climate change is analyzed through an action- reaction dialogic construct embedded in a series of key quotes collected from the counter-denial website DeSmogBlog. By drawing on the cognitive and communicative principles of Relevance theory in pragmatics and on neo-Gricean approaches, and by adopting a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the study attempts to shed light on denialist communicative intentions that initiate and give impetus to the global climate change debate.