Image Politics: The New Rhetoric of Environmental Activism

by Kevin Michael DeLuca

From Greenpeace protesters confronting whaling ships to Earth First! activists occupying trees to stop logging, radical environmentalists increasingly rely upon attracting mass media coverage to gain visibility and public support. This book examines the use of "image events" as a rhetorical tactic, one that often supplants written or spoken arguments. Widely televised environmentalist actions are analyzed in depth to illustrate how the image event fulfills fundamental rhetorical functions in constructing and transforming identities, discourses, communities, cultures, and world views. Beyond the rhetorical power of image events, DeLuca also shows how they create opportunities for a politics that does not rely on centralized leadership or universal metanarratives. Illuminating the new political possibilities currently being enacted by radical environmental groups, the book lays out a rhetoric of the visual for our mediated age.

Genres: Environment

205 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting analysis of the use of images by radical environmental groups coming from a communications/rhetoric standpoint, plus Derrida-inspired critique (mostly in terms of problematizing binary oppositions - especially the binary nature/culture is tackled by DeLuca). DeLuca also coins the term "image event" (the intentional placement of images by these groups in the public media for a specific purpose). However, he does not analyze this as much as he could have from a media studies or visual culture standpoint, which would have only added to the book. Still, quite interesting and helpful if you're studying visual culture or environmental politics.

[Raz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro round ambiental, de los difíciles. En una esquina, servicios subsidiadps para muchos en un contexto de escasez; en la otra, potenciales riesgos a la salud para algunos otros. Difícil. Dificilito.