Routledge Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs in the British Press: An Ecofeminist Critique of Neoliberalism (Routledge New Directions in PR & Communication Research)

An ecofeminist criticism of neoliberalism, this book uses economic growth, CSR and the press coverage of environmental affairs as a case study. The author argues that CSR is part of a wheel of neoliberalism that continually perpetuates inequality and the exploitation of women and Nature. Using an ecofeminist sense-making analysis of media coverage of food waste, global warming, plastic, economic growth and CSR, the author shows how the press discourse in writing is always similar and serves to preserve the status quo with CSR being just a smokescreen that saved capitalism and just one cog in the wheel of neoliberalism. While available research offers perspectives from business and public relations studies, looking at how CSR is implemented and how it contributes towards the reputation of businesses, this book explores how the media enforce CSR discourse while at the same time arguing for environmental preservation. The book presents a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to explain how and why CSR is being pushed forward by the news media, and how the media preserves the status quo by creating moral panic on environmental issues while at the same time pushing for CSR discourse and economic growth, which only contributes towards environmental degradation. The original research presented in the book looks at how the media write about economic growth, plastics, food waste, CSR and global warming. This interdisciplinary study draws on ecofeminist theory and media feminist theory to provide a novel analysis of CSR, making the case that enforcing CSR as a way to do business damages the environment and that the media enforce a neoliberal discourse of promoting both economic growth and environmentalism, which does not go together. Examining the UK media as a case study, a detailed methodological account is provided so that the study can be repeated and compared elsewhere. The book is aimed at academics and researchers in business and media studies, as well as those in women’s studies. It will also be relevant to scholars in business management and marketing. Review "This is a brilliant book on a very topical issue. I really enjoyed reading it. It’s scientifically rigorous and research-informed but at the same time interesting and easy to follow. I was amazed by the amount and variety of sources used. I would wholeheartedly recommend it both to people with advanced knowledge of the current discourse on corporate social responsibility, feminism and environmental sustainability and to people who want to familiarize themselves with these concepts." - Dr Ioannis Kostopoulos, Liverpool John Moore University, UK "There is no doubt that Martina Topić has opened a new chapter in the development of ecofeminist theory. In an original way, the author applies the conceptual legacy of socialist ecofeminism in her meticulous critical analysis of neoliberal ideology based on reporting on corporate social responsibility and environmental affairs in the British press. It is an academic book that addresses a large audience – those who are academically or actively engaged in ecofeminism, those who report on environmental issues, and those who are aware of the importance of supporting the development of socially responsible media. Of course, it is also unavoidable literature for all those who want to be informed about the potentials of ecofeminist approaches in the 21st century. " - Dr Marija Geiger Zeman, Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Croatia "This book brings vital new theoretical insights to bear on the political significance of ecofeminism as a global response to environmental destruction. In exploring the link between environmental destruction and the male-dominated systems responsible for the overconsumption leading the planet to an ecological crisis it highlights differences between a bourgeois liberal feminism which demands the right of women to be included within neoliberalism and an