ABSTRACT
In this book, we have explored varying ways in which people have represented the environment around them and shown how their representations relate to issues involving environmental attitudes, values and actions. In the process, we have argued that such representations:
take a wide range of forms, including designed landscapes, scientific and academic writings, newspaper reports, maps and diagrams in addition to paintings, novels, poetry, film and television;
should be studied for their form, style and structure as well as content; convey most information about environmental attitudes and values if they
are studied in their historical and social contexts; have meanings that may change over time and be disputed by different
individuals and interest groups; involve practical activity and, as such, representation is itself action and
not just the reflection of actions; always involve processes of production, transmission and consumption, and
include groups of producers, audiences and their institutional contexts; have their form and meanings made and shaped by the actions of both
producers and consumers; are more than insubstantial ideas, but are themselves tangible manifestations
of culture and its values.
