Geoengineering, Persuasion, and the Climate Crisis

“Geoengineering, Persuasion, and the Climate Crisis: A Geologic Rhetoric is the first book in rhetorical studies on the controversial topic of geoengineering. More importantly, the concept of geologic rhetoric it develops is the best discussion of rhetorical theory and the problematics of climate change that I have seen, and it provides an exciting new direction in rhetoric of science and the environment. It is carefully researched and theorized, but it is also very readable and engaging.”
—Carl G. Herndl, coeditor of Green Culture: Environmental Rhetoric in Contemporary America
 
“Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder takes what could easily be viewed as the tectonic rift between the sciences and the humanities and helps bridge the divide. Here he offers a ‘geologic rhetoric’ that is grounded not in ‘either/or’ propositions and hierarchical assumptions but rather in more nuanced ideas about how humans may work alongside our planet in deliberative and responsive ways to achieve a sustainable future.”
—Amy D. Propen, author of Visualizing Posthuman Conservation in the Age of the Anthropocene
 
“This is an exceptional overview of what we might justifiably consider a terrifying science—geoengineering—that asks us to think about how our worldviews quite literally shape our world. ‘The earth,’ Pflugfelder writes, ‘is being rhetorically weaponized,’ and in this powerful but accessible account we’re told a story that weaves together materiality, non-Western rhetorics, risk, capitalism, and communication. Academic books have a reputation for dryness; this one is not. I not only read this cover to cover but enthusiastically came back for more.”
—Derek G. Ross, editor of Topic-Driven Environmental Rhetoric
 

“Most discussions of our earthly environment—verbal or in writing—draw on science, technology, economics, politics, aesthetics, or some combination thereof. This book, whose title contains the keyword "geoengineering" (i.e., manipulation of our environment by human action), resorts to none of these disciplines. It's a book about rhetoric—how we argue about ideas or things, especially how we discuss nature and its manipulation by humanity. This text will prove difficult reading for the layperson, but should be of interest to those concerned with how we frame such arguments—less so to those who care about why.” Optional.
—CHOICE