The politics of climate change, and in particular how they intersect with energy-society relations, is a core theme in Dr. Davidson’s research. Confronting dominant groups, beliefs and ideas demands critical analysis of who is and is not at the decision-making table, what their interests are, and what are the potential and realized outcomes of such decisions. Located in the Province of Alberta, the seat of the Canadian fossil fuels industries, fossil fuels loom large in Davidson’s portfolio, including attention to the socio-environmental impacts associated with their extraction, and the dominant discourses that guide such development, and exclude others.

Other research Davidson has produced focuses directly on social responses to the climate emergency. One unique feature of Davidson’s work here is her application of the sociological concept of reflexivity to the personal processing of information and experiences associated with climate change, and decisions regarding engagement in personal and collective as a result. This work also inevitably overlaps with emotionality, another key research theme. Some relevant publications include:

Davidson, Debra J. and Matthias Gross (Editors). 2018. Oxford Handbook of Energy and Society. Oxford University Press.

Davidson, Debra J. and Michael Gismondi. 2011. Challenging Legitimacy at the Precipice of Energy Calamity. New York: Springer.

Letourneau, Angeline, Debra J. Davidson, Carrie Karsgaard & Dasha Ivanova. 2023. “Proud fathers and fossil fuels: gendered identities and climate obstruction,” Environmental Politics, 33(4): 678-698. 

Karsgaard, Carrie and Davidson, Debra J. 2023 “Must we wait for youth to speak out before we listen? International youth perspectives and climate change education.” Educational Review, Special Issue: Youth Activism, Climate Change, and Education, 75(1): 74-92.

Truong, D., Parkins, J.R. & Davidson, D.J.  2020. “What Shapes Public Engagement in Fracking Issues?” Society & Natural Resources, 34(2): 1-19.

Truong, D., Davidson, D.J. & Parkins, J.R. 2020. “Context matters: Fracking attitudes, knowledge and trust in three communities in Alberta, Canada.” The Extractive Industries and Society 6(4): 1325-1332.

Zentner, Emilie, Kecinski, Maik, Letourneau, Angeline and Debra J. Davidson. 2019. “Ignoring Indigenous peoples—climate change, oil development, and Indigenous rights clash in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” Climatic Change 155(4): 533-544.

Davidson, Debra J. 2019. “Emotion, reflexivity and social change in the era of extreme fossil fuels.” British Journal of Sociology 70(2): 442-462.

Davidson, Debra J., Anthony Fisher and Gwendolyn Blue. 2019. “Missed opportunities: The absence of climate change in media coverage of forest fire events in Alberta.” Climatic Change 153(1): 165-179.

Davidson, Debra J. Edwin Edou, and Barry Robinson. 2018. “Chipping away at democracy: Legislative slippage in Alberta’s energy development zone.” Energy Research and Social Science 46: 303-310.

Davidson, Debra J. and Richard C. Stedman. 2018. “Calling forth the change-makers: Reflexivity theory and climate change attitudes and behaviors.” Acta Sociologica 61(1): 79-94.

Davidson, Debra J. 2017. “Evaluating the Effects of Living with Contamination from the Lens of Trauma: A case study of fracking development in Alberta, Canada.” Environmental Sociology 4(2): 196-209.

Davidson, Debra J. and Michael Gismondi. 2014. “Footprints in the Oilsands: A Double Diversion with global repercussions.” Sociological Imagination 50(1): 13-34.

Davidson, Debra J. 2012. “Analyzing Social Responses to Climate Change through the Lens of Reflexivity: An In-Depth Look at ‘Climate Change Meta-Reflexives.’” British Journal of Sociology, 63(4): 616-640.