This book analyzes diverse representations of environmental moral engagement in contemporary mediated popular culture. It identifies and explores intertwining, co-constitutive, yet contrary stories of what the author terms “ecopiety” and “consumopiety” as they flow across multiple media platforms. The way these stories compete and conflict, vying for space as contested narratives in the public imagination, constitutes a central inquiry of the book. Drawing together theoretical insights from cultural studies, media studies, environmental humanities, and religious studies, the book offers a crit ... More

This book analyzes diverse representations of environmental moral engagement in contemporary mediated popular culture. It identifies and explores intertwining, co-constitutive, yet contrary stories of what the author terms “ecopiety” and “consumopiety” as they flow across multiple media platforms. The way these stories compete and conflict, vying for space as contested narratives in the public imagination, constitutes a central inquiry of the book. Drawing together theoretical insights from cultural studies, media studies, environmental humanities, and religious studies, the book offers a critical reading of primary source data drawn from such areas as the marketing of green consumer products, “greenwashed” corporate advertising, environmental mobile device applications, eco-themed reality television, the marketing of eco-funerals, Internet sharing of environmental tattoos, “green” fashion guides, and the media strategies of green hiphop activism. Taylor makes the case that a detailed, multichannel, cross-platform approach to cultural analysis is critical to understanding the kind of important “work” taking place as mediated popular culture plays an integral role in the “greening” of American moral sensibilities. Ecopiety delves into the complex and contested processes of remaking our world and rescripting the future in the digital age—a time when storytelling processes themselves are shaping and being shaped by new media outlets and digital sharing technologies.