Award Date

5-1-2020

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication

First Committee Member

Emma Bloomfield

Second Committee Member

Donovan Conley

Third Committee Member

Philip Tschirhart

Fourth Committee Member

Denise Tillery

Number of Pages

81

Abstract

Using an ecofeminist lens, this project aims to analyze the ideologies surrounding the creation and response to the Green New Deal (GND). By completing an ideological analysis of the GND, in addition to examining some news media portrayals of the GND, this thesis analyzes the underlying motivations and ideologies surrounding female politicians, climate change, and climate policies. This thesis examines reads the GND not as a policy that was meant to be passed, but instead as an ideological statement about humans and their relationship to the environment. The news media portrayals exhibit varying coverage of the GND’s effectiveness, varying use of appeals to pathos, and shared use of backgrounding and anthropocentric values. These statements reflect both appeals and challenges to capitalism, patriarchy, and anthropocentrism, which prioritize special interests and money over the safety and well-being of the Earth, plants, animals, and ultimately humans. These counter-hegemonic ideologies present in the GND challenge traditional ways of thinking about the environment. I argue that while AOC proposes a radical reordering of the United States economy, the news media portrayals and parts of the GND still echo hegemonic discourses. Furthermore, I argue that these pervasive hegemonic discourses are manifestations of the problems facing collaborative and holistic climate policy.

Keywords

Environmental Communication; Green New Deal

Disciplines

Communication | Environmental Sciences

File Format

pdf

File Size

0.669 MB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS