Greenwashing Culture

2017 | Art, Photography & Fashion

Greenwashing Culture examines culture's complicity with our environmental crisis. It reveals both the social license it often gives gas and petroleum industries to operate and the ecological impact of cultural production itself. Firstly, the book outlines the basic theoretical concepts and material histories of greenwashing and culture. This introduction includes startling statistics which indicate the true extent of environmental damage film-making, print media and other forms of cultural production can inflict. This is juxtaposed with the culture of celebrity eco-activism and the lack of a green agenda in journalism as a profession. Toby Miller then investigates the sponsorship of cultural institutions by big polluters, including BP and Chevron, raising concerns that problematise this relationship. He concludes with a case study of actions by Greenpeace and its advertising allies against Shell's sponsorship of Lego; illustrating radical routes to environmental reform, via citizenship and public policy. Toby Miller presents a timely and thought-provoking introduction to the harmful impact of greenwashing on climate-change and climate-change denial.

This is essential reading for students of environmental studies and cultural studies and those with an interest in environmental activism.

Toby Miller (Author)