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Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere
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Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere

Sixth Edition
May 2021 | 392 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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The best-selling Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere provides a comprehensive introduction to the growing field of environmental communication. This groundbreaking book focuses on the role that human communication plays in influencing the ways we perceive the environment. Authors Phaedra C. Pezzullo and Robert Cox examine how we define what constitutes an environmental problem and how we decide what actions to take concerning the natural world. The Sixth Edition explores recent events and research, including fast fashion, global youth climate strikes, biodiversity loss, disability rights advocacy, single-use plastic ban controversies, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Preface to the Sixth Edition
 
Introduction: Speaking for/About the Environment
 
About the Authors
 
Part I: Communicating for/About the Environment
 
Chapter 1: Defining Environmental Communication
Studying Environmental Communication

 
Communication, the Environment, and the Public Sphere

 
Diverse Environmental Voices in the Public Sphere

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 2: Contested Meanings: A Brief History
Turtle Island

 
Learning to Love Nature

 
Wilderness Preservation Versus Natural Resource Conservation

 
Public Health and the Ecology Movement

 
Environmental Justice: Linking Social Justice and Public Health

 
Contemporary Movements for Sustainability and Climate Justice

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 3: Symbolic Constructions of the Environment
A Rhetorical Perspective

 
Dominant and Critical Discourses

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 4: Environmental Media and Sustainability
The Environment and Popular Culture

 
Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary Approach

 
Sustainability Discourses

 
Corporate Sustainability Communication: Reflection or Deflection?

 
Greenwashing

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Part II: Environmental Campaigns and Movements
 
Chapter 5: Environmental Advocacy Campaigns
Environmental Advocacy

 
Environmental Advocacy Campaigns

 
The Campaign to Protect Zuni Salt Lake

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 6: Digital Environmental Organizing
Grassroots Activism and Digital Media

 
Environmental NGOs and Digital Campaign Dilemmas

 
Multimodality and Networked Campaigns

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 7: Visual and Market Advocacy
Visual Rhetoric and Nature Advocacy

 
Moving Images of Disasters

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 8: Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Movements
Environmental Justice: Challenges, Critiques, and Change

 
Honoring Frontline Knowledge and Traveling on Toxic Tours

 
The Global Movement for Climate Justice

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Part III: Environmental Discourses and Public Spheres
 
Chapter 9: Environmental Journalism
Environmental Journalism in the Public Sphere

 
Breaking News and Environmental Journalism

 
Media Effects and Influences

 
Digital Storytelling and Environmental News

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 10: Science and Climate Communication
Scientific Argumentation

 
Early Warners: Environmental Scientists and the Public

 
Resisting (Climate) Science

 
Communicating Climate Science

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 11: Public Health and Environmental Risk Communication
Dangerous Environments: Assessment in a Risk Society

 
Communicating Environmental Risks in the Public Sphere

 
The Precautionary Principle

 
Citizens Becoming Scientists

 
Voices of Environmental Risk

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Part IV: Green Governance and Legal Spheres
 
Chapter 12: Public Participation and Democratic Rights
Rights of Public Participation

 
Right to Know: Transparency and Access to Information

 
Right to Comment: Involvement

 
SLAPP: Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation

 
Growth of Public Participation Internationally

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Chapter 13: Voice and Public Dissent
Right of Expression and Right of Assembly

 
Right of Standing: Who Legally Can Speak?

 
Landmark Cases on Environmental Standing

 
Reversing, Slowing, or Reducing Global Warming as Injury

 
Who Should Have a Right of Standing?

 
Summary

 
Suggested Resources

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Epilogue: Imagining Stories of/for Our Future
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index
Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • Chapter-opening learning objectives identify what students should be able to accomplish after studying a chapter.
  • A remapping of the field of environmental communication reflects both the growing community of scholars and practitioners globally, as well as emerging research in new areas such as disability rights advocacy, digital divide, spreadable media, climate refugees, and futurity.
  • Enhanced re-organization brings advocacy campaigns to the foreground earlier to encourage semester-long projects.
  • A new chapter on science and climate communication and an expanded chapter on green advertising, sustainability discourses, and consumer politics keeps the subject matter timely and significant for today’s students from a range of disciplines.
  • Coverage of recent events and trends includes fast fashion, global youth climate strikes, anti-science backlash, declarations of climate emergencies, biodiversity loss, single-use plastic ban controversies, threats against the right of expression and peaceful assembly, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  
  • The latest scholarship and public insights include over 250 new references and over 50 new key terms
KEY FEATURES:
  • Globally diverse images and case studies of environmental leaders, practices, and movements reinforce the theories presented.
  • Act Locally! exercises give students opportunities to apply the principles of environmental communication to their campus and community.
  • Another Viewpoint sections highlight the dynamic discussions and multiple perspectives that have made an impact in environmental communication.
  • FYI boxes give attention to various topics and issues in environmental communication, from updating climate reporting language to the seven sins of greenwashing.
  • Summaries, discussion questions, and key terms at the end of chapters allow students to review content covered and reinforce their understanding.
  • Chapter-concluding suggested resources provide recommended readings, movies, and websites for further examination of topics.