Global Trade and Mediatised Environmental Protest: The View From Here (Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication)

As more governments, companies and individuals scan the globe for access to primary resources such as minerals and timber, food, power and water, and destinations for work, holidays and homes, pressures on places and communities grow. At the same time, global environmental risks – most notably, climate change – produce new networks and unfamiliar forms of politics. Communication media are integral to this change. This book explores how geographically diverse groups and individuals interact in and through media to influence the negotiations and decisions affecting often distant landscapes and communities. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the Australia-Asia region, the book includes case studies on the environmental protests that follow the international flow of people and resources, including timber, fish, coal, water and tourism. It asks how ‘communities of concern’ are evoked, which transcend local places and national boundaries. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 1 Introduction 10 The View from Here 13 Following Media 17 The Book’s View 22 References 26 2 Counting Protest 30 Speaking Out 33 So What’s New? 39 Conclusion 47 References 49 3 Protest and Publics 54 Mediatised Environmental Conflict 56 Social Licence 61 New Communities of Concern? 67 Conclusion 72 References 74 4 The Spectacle of the Reef 79 Saving the Great Barrier Reef—Then 82 Saving the Great Barrier Reef—Now 85 It’s not Cricket 88 See It Before It’s Too Late 93 Conclusion 97 References 99 5 Industrialising the Forests and the Fishes 104 Forests 107 Fish 115 Conclusion 123 References 123 6 The Information Trade 129 Industry 133 Campaigners 139 Journalism 144 Conclusion 152 References 153 7 Conclusion 157 Producing Sustained Change 164 References 169 Index 171 "As more governments, companies and individuals scan the globe for access to primary resources such as minerals and timber, food, power and water, and destinations for work, holidays and homes, pressures on places and communities grow. At the same time, global environmental risks, most notably climate change, produce new networks and unfamiliar forms of politics. Communication media are integral to this change. This book explores how geographically diverse groups and individuals interact in and through media to influence the negotiations and decisions affecting often distant landscapes and communities"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-viii Introduction (Libby Lester)....Pages 1-20 Counting Protest (Libby Lester)....Pages 21-44 Protest and Publics (Libby Lester)....Pages 45-69 The Spectacle of the Reef (Libby Lester)....Pages 71-95 Industrialising the Forests and the Fishes (Libby Lester)....Pages 97-121 The Information Trade (Libby Lester)....Pages 123-150 Conclusion (Libby Lester)....Pages 151-164 Back Matter ....Pages 165-177