Critical media literacy for rethinking our relationship with nature

Jeff Share

Chapter 27 in Research Handbook on Critical Theory, 2026, pp 300-312 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the potential of critical media literacy to empower students to confront the climate crisis. It begins by recognising that climate change is more than just a scientific problem, but arguably the most political, epistemological, and social problem facing humans and the planet. The stories, words, and images that are being used to convey the importance of this environmental emergency are the principal ways people are being positioned to think and respond to the changes taking place. When media hide the severity by under-representing the issue and over-dramatising the problems with sensational media spectacles, the public loses the ability to critically understand the causes and effects. This chapter calls for a paradigm shift from a logic of domination and exploitation to understanding our interdependence with the natural world and the need to move towards more ecological ways of thinking and acting with nature that are sustainable and socially just.

Keywords: Critical Media Literacy; Media Education; Digital Literacy; Critical Literacy; Climate Change; Environmental Education; Environmental Justice; Climate Crisis; Rights of Nature; Doctrine of Discovery; Critical Pedagogy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800373754
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