Barbara Adam – författare

Environmental Risks and the Media explores the ways in which environmental risks, threats and hazards are represented, transformed and contested by the media. At a time when popular conceptions of the environment as a stable, natural world with which humanity interferes are being increasingly contested, the medias methods of encouraging audiences to think about environmental risks - from the BSE or ''mad cow'' crisis to global climate change - are becoming more and more controversial.Examining large-scale disasters, as well as ''everyday'' hazards, the contributors consider the tensions between entertainment and information in media coverage of the environment. How do the media frame ''expert'', ''counter-expert'' and ''lay public'' definitions of environmental risk? What role do environmental pressure groups like Greenpeace or ''eco-warriors'' and ''green guerrillas'' play in shaping what gets covered and how? Does the media emphasis on spectacular events at the expense of issue-sensitive reporting exacerbate the public tendency to overestimate sudden and violent risks and underestimate chronic long-term ones?

Environmental Risks and the Media explores the ways in which environmental risks, threats and hazards are represented, transformed and contested by the media. At a time when popular conceptions of the environment as a stable, natural world with which humanity interferes are being increasingly contested, the medias methods of encouraging audiences to think about environmental risks - from the BSE or ''mad cow'' crisis to global climate change - are becoming more and more controversial.Examining large-scale disasters, as well as ''everyday'' hazards, the contributors consider the tensions between entertainment and information in media coverage of the environment. How do the media frame ''expert'', ''counter-expert'' and ''lay public'' definitions of environmental risk? What role do environmental pressure groups like Greenpeace or ''eco-warriors'' and ''green guerrillas'' play in shaping what gets covered and how? Does the media emphasis on spectacular events at the expense of issue-sensitive reporting exacerbate the public tendency to overestimate sudden and violent risks and underestimate chronic long-term ones?

Timescapes of Modernity explores the relationship between time and environmental and socio-cultural concerns. Using examples such as the BSE crisis, the Sea Empress oil pollution and the Chernobyl radiation Barbara Adam argues that environmental hazards are inescapably tied to the successes of the industrial way of life. Global markets and economic growth; large-scale production of food; the speed of transport and communication; the 24 hour society and even democratic politics are among the invisible hazards we face. With this unique ''timescape'' perspective the author dislodges assumptions about environmental change, enables a rethinking of environmental problems and provides the potential for new strategies to deal with environmental hazards.

Timescapes of Modernity explores the relationship between time and environmental and socio-cultural concerns. Using examples such as the BSE crisis, the Sea Empress oil pollution and the Chernobyl radiation Barbara Adam argues that environmental hazards are inescapably tied to the successes of the industrial way of life. Global markets and economic growth; large-scale production of food; the speed of transport and communication; the 24 hour society and even democratic politics are among the invisible hazards we face. With this unique ''timescape'' perspective the author dislodges assumptions about environmental change, enables a rethinking of environmental problems and provides the potential for new strategies to deal with environmental hazards.

This highly original and timely volume engages scholars from the breadth of social science and the humanities to provide a critical perspective on cultural forms, practices and identities. It looks beyond the postmodern debate to reinstate the critical dimension in cultural analysis, providing a "student-friendly" introduction to key contemporary issues such as the body, AIDS, race, the environment and virtual reality.Theorizing Culture is essential reading for undergraduate courses in cultural and media studies and sociology, and will have considerable appeal for students and scholars of critical theory, gender studies and the history of ideas.

This highly original and timely volume engages scholars from the breadth of social science and the humanities to provide a critical perspective on cultural forms, practices and identities. It looks beyond the postmodern debate to reinstate the critical dimension in cultural analysis, providing a "student-friendly" introduction to key contemporary issues such as the body, AIDS, race, the environment and virtual reality.Theorizing Culture is essential reading for undergraduate courses in cultural and media studies and sociology, and will have considerable appeal for students and scholars of critical theory, gender studies and the history of ideas.