Action on climate change continues to be hampered by vested interests seeding doubt about science and the need to reduce carbon emissions. Using a qualitative case study of local climate adaptation to sea level rise, we show how climate change science is translated into a self-referential theory focussed on property prices. Our analysis develops two mechanisms – enablement and theorization – to explain the relationship between theory performativity and power within a process of translation. This contributes to i) the performativity debate by showing how the constitution of power relations shapes theory performativity; ii) theories of power, by tracing the ways in which certain actors are able to enrol others and impact the authority of particular theories, and; iii) processes of translation by developing mechanisms for following the ways in which power and theory performativity interact. We conclude by arguing that a performative understanding of how power shapes beliefs is central to combat the failure to address climate change.

既得利益者对科学和减少碳排放的必要性产生怀疑，继续阻碍应对气候变化的行动。通过对当地气候适应海平面上升的定性案例研究，我们展示了气候变化科学如何转化为专注于房地产价格的自我参考理论。我们的分析开发了两种机制——启用和理论化——来解释翻译过程中理论述行性和权力之间的关系。这有助于 i) 通过展示权力关系的构成如何塑造理论述行性而进行的述行性辩论；ii) 权力理论，通过追踪某些行为者能够招募其他人并影响特定理论的权威的方式，以及；iii) 通过开发遵循权力和理论述行相互作用方式的机制来进行翻译过程。我们得出结论认为，对权力如何塑造信念的表演性理解对于解决应对气候变化的失败至关重要。