Seeing complexity: visualization tools in global environmental politics and governance

Can visualization tools and applications help scholars of global environmental politics and governance understand problems that are complex, linked, and cross-scalar—the critical characteristics of contemporary environmental problems? Surprisingly, such tools have been rarely used in this literature despite widespread availability and use in other fields to make sense of complex data. We trace the history of visualizations from the early work of Minard and Snow up to the sophisticated, web-based interactive graphics we have today, and identify forms of visualization and their uses. We apply these tools to a specific preliminary case study: the number, location, and timeline of waste disposal projects in developing countries registered with the Clean Development Mechanism as climate offsets. This preliminary case gets at unexpected linkages across climate and waste governance at the international level, and allows us to start to see local impacts of global mitigation and market mechanisms. Using Tableau, we have generated a series of maps and other visualizations that make trends and patterns visible—helping to spark further research. We conclude by discussing the implications of visualization tools for fields of global environmental politics and governance, and critiques of visualization from practical and theoretical viewpoints. We note their connection to wider political debates around accessibility of data and science.

Duke Scholars

Author Erika S. Weinthal Environmental Sciences and Policy