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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Impact Of ‘‘No Impact Man’’: Alternative Hedonism As Environmental Appeal, Jen Schneider, Glen Miller Dec 2011

The Impact Of ‘‘No Impact Man’’: Alternative Hedonism As Environmental Appeal, Jen Schneider, Glen Miller

Jen Schneider

As ‘‘No Impact Man,’’ writer Colin Beavan conducted a one-year experiment to determine whether he and his family could reduce their environmental impact to zero while living and working in Manhattan. This article examines the No Impact Man (NIM) experiment both as ‘‘alternative hedonism,’’ a reconceptualization of the ‘‘good life’’ that avoids unduly damaging the natural world, and also as a kind of ‘‘eco-stunt,’’ an attempt to garner significant media coverage about positive environmental behaviors. We use DeLuca’s theorization of the ‘‘image event’’ to analyze the No Impact Man franchise—blog, book, and documentary film—though we modify that theory in order …


Making Space For The “Nuances Of Truth”: Communication And Uncertainty At An Environmental Journalists’ Workshop, Jen Schneider Jun 2010

Making Space For The “Nuances Of Truth”: Communication And Uncertainty At An Environmental Journalists’ Workshop, Jen Schneider

Jen Schneider

In 2008, the Society of Environmental Journalists listed nearly 50 science or science immersion workshops for environmental journalists. Yet relatively little is known about the content of these workshops and their impact on participants. This ethnographic study, conducted at a science immersion workshop for environmental journalists, aims to fill this void in our knowledge. Relying on participant observation and depth interviews, the study suggests that such workshops are useful for participating journalists: Reporters feel they leave the workshop better understanding the scientific method and scientific uncertainty. But the findings also reveal that “metacommunication”—communication about communication—is equally as important as science …


Environmental Crisis And Religious Rhetoric In Is God Green?, Jen Schneider Jan 2010

Environmental Crisis And Religious Rhetoric In Is God Green?, Jen Schneider

Jen Schneider

In the 2006 PBS documentary Is God Green?, Bill Moyers presents the emergence of two key contemporary trends in American political and religious life. The first is the growing popularity of an environmental movement within Christian evangelicalism called 'Creation Care'. Motivated by biblical passages that suggest humans have been 'commissioned' as stewards to care for the earth, or 'God's Body', Creation Care emerged in the late 1970s, gained momentum in the 1990s, and now 'constitutes the "fastest-growing form of Christian ministry"', according to the evangelical publication Christianity Today (Frame 1996:84, see also Psaros 2006:20-32). Is God Green? highlights what …