7 pages., via online journal., This essay comments and expands upon an emerging area of research,
energy communication, that shares with environmental communication
the fraught commitment to simultaneously study communication as
an ordinary yet potentially transformative practice, and a strategic
endeavour to catalyse change. We begin by defining and situating energy
communication within ongoing work on the discursive dimensions of
energy extraction, production, distribution, and consumption. We then
offer three generative directions for future research related to energy
transitions as communicative processes: analysing campaigns’ strategic
efforts, critically theorizing energy’s transnational power dynamics, and
theorizing the energy democracy movement.
15 pages., via online journal., Recent European policy highlights the need to promote local fishery and aquaculture by means of innovation and joint participation in fishery management as one of the keys to achieve the sustainability of our seas. However, the implicit assumptions held by the actors in the two main groups involved – innovators (scientists, businessmen and administration managers) and local fishermen – can complicate, perhaps even render impossible, mutual understanding and co-operation. A qualitative analysis of interviews with members of both groups in the Valencian Community (Spain) reveals those latent assumptions and their impact on the respective practices. The analysis shows that the innovation narrative in which one group is based and the inventions narrative used by the other one are rooted in two dramatically different, or even antagonistic, collective worldviews. Any environmental policy that implies these groups should take into account these strong discords.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10310
Notes:
Online from the Center for Investigative Reporting, Emoryville, California., "Backing away from attempts at censorship, the National Park Service today released a report charting the risks to national parks from sea level rise and storms."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D06205
Notes:
Pages 125-139 in Karin Eli and Stanley Ulijaszek (eds.), Obesity, eating disorders and the media. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Surrey, England. 173 pages.
18 pages., via online journal, The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of small-scale farmers in Brazil towards genetically modified (GM) crops based on a sample of 15 focus groups involving 111 individuals. The analysis of the corpus shows heterogeneous perceptions regarding these crops, shaped by diverse factors, including economic prospects and concerns with the impact on health and the environment. There are many misgivings about these effects among the farmers, who are keen to receive unbiased information on the topic. These uncertainties affect them more as consumers, as most would prefer eating GM-free food, than as producers, as they consider other aspects, especially economic feasibility, when deciding what to grow. Although most farmers believe they should have a voice in decision-making on agricultural issues, few have made concerted efforts to be heard.
