Description: In Apocalyptic Authoritarianism, media scholar Hanna E. Morris reveals how national anxieties following the 2016 presidential election have shaped American news coverage of climate change in ways that severely limit how it has come to be known, imagined, and contended with. Looking at climate change reporting across ideologically diverse U.S. news media outlets over the past decade, the book traces how media creates an illusion of control in the present through nostalgic and heroic stories of the past. Morris identifies a new mode of reactionary politics called "apocalyptic authoritarianism" to describe the post-2016 alignment of historically privileged figures united by a common enemy of the "new" New Left and a shared appeal to fears of "total crisis." Ultimately, Morris calls for a robust and inclusive form of climate journalism and politics to set the nation on a path toward democratic and equitable responses to the climate crisis.
Review Quotes: "By illustrating how the obsession with "fixing" the Earth can be, at best, unhelpful and, at worst, paralyzing, Apocalyptic Authoritarianism makes a significant contribution to the ongoing conversation about how the press and policymakers can more effectively foster inclusive, nuanced, and meaningful discussions around the necessary measures for addressing climate change." -- Yaroslava Kutsai, Mass Communication and Society
"In my view, one of the book's most significant contributions could be applicable across diverse national contexts, it is in fact its critique of the 'simplistic binary of right and wrong' that plagues American climate discourse, leaving 'little room for context and nuance.' This insight invites scholars and practitioners to rethink how climate communication can foster inclusivity, complexity, and democratic engagement rather than fear-driven authoritarianism." -- Marianna Poberezhskaya, Environmental Politics"Morris (Univ. of Toronto, Canada) suggests that journalism about climate change frequently adopts the frame that climate change is an inevitable environmental and socioeconomic catastrophe unless the recommendations of historically privileged experts are heeded and followed. ...Recommended for doctoral mass communication program collections in higher education and environmental studies. Comprehensive notes." -- R. A. Logan, CHOICE"Morris manages to walk the line between dealing with a challenging subject in an engaging and accessible manner whilst not losing any of the nuance or complexity of the issues at hand. This is particularly crucial, given the book's clear analysis of the binaries present in the narratives, tropes and characters of US climate journalism and the terrible impacts of those 'good and evil' oversimplifications." -- Sara Hill, Reactionary Politics Research Network