A Strategic Nature: Public Relations and the Politics of American Environmentalism [Paperback]

InA Strategic Nature, Melissa Aronczyk and Maria I. Espinoza show how public relations has dominated public understanding of the natural environment for over one hundred years. More than spin or misinformation, they argue, PR is a social and political force that shapes how we understand and address the environmental crises we now face.A look at how public relations has dominated public understanding of the natural environment for over one hundred years.InA Strategic Nature, Melissa Aronczyk and Maria I. Espinoza examine public relations as a social and political force that shapes both our understanding of the environmental crises we now face and our responses to them. Drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnography, and archival research, Aronczyk and Espinoza document the evolution of PR techniques to control public perception of the environment since the beginning of the twentieth century. More than spin or misinformation, PR affects how institutions and individuals conceptualize environmental problems -- from conservation to coal mining to carbon credits. Revealing the linkages of professional strategists, information politics, and environmental standards,A Strategic Natureshows how public relations restricts alternative paths to a sustainable climate future.List of Figures and TablesList of AbbreviationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Public Relations and Its Problems1. Seeing Like a Publicist: How the Environment became an Issue2. Bringing the Outside In: Managing Industry's External Environment 3. Environment, Energy, Economy: The Campaign for Balance4. PR for the Public Interest: The Rule of Reason and the Hazards of Environmental Consensus5. Sustainable Communication : Green PR and the Export of Corporate Environmentalism6. The Climate of Publicity: Climate Advocates and the Compromise of PR7. Shared Value : Promoting Climate Change for Data WorldsConclusion: We're Supposed to Be EngagingNotesReferencesAppendix 1. Interl32