Because The Media Ecosystem is written in the spirit of a manifesto, it was an editorial decision to leave out a reference section and index. What follows, then, is a basic list of references for each section of the book. This is not a complete list, but meant to inspire further links beyond the book’s text, and to also acknowledge the source of many key ideas used throughout the book.
If you feel a reference is missing or you would like to suggest additional resources, please post a comment below and every effort will be made to update this list.
A note on links: Whenever possible I tried to link to the author or publisher’s original Web site. When no other links were available, I linked to Amazon.com. I created an online Amazon store for all the books listed below. Any purchases made there or through this indy bookstore link will help support my work.
Pretext: Reoccupying the Collective Imagination
Anima mundi: for a good overview of this concept, I highly recommend Theodore Roszak‘s The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology.
Buyosphere was coined by Thomas Hine in his book, I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers.
Commons: “all that we share” is a definition used in the excellent introduction to the commons by Jay Walljasper, All That We Share: How to Save the Economy, the Environment, the Internet, Democracy, Our Communities and Everything Else that Belongs to All of Us.
Cultural commons: I’m indebted to the work of C.A. Bowers for developing the idea of the cultural commons. The concepts listed in this section draw from his work, which can be accessed at his Web site.
Earth Democracy was coined by Vandana Shiva. You can read more about it in her book, Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace.
Ethnosphere was coined by Wade Davis. You can read more about it in, The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World.
Noosphere was coined Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. You can get a good overview in the book, The Biosphere and Noosphere Reader: Global Environment, Society and Change.
“Our space”: see “Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World.”
Semiosphere was coined by Yuri Lotman in, Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture (The Second World)“>Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture.
The “Three Cs”: from conquest, colonization and consumerism to connection, communication and consciousness comes from Ervin Laszlo’s Quantum Shift in the Global Brain: How the New Scientific Reality Can Change Us and Our World.
Chapter 1: Green Cultural Citizenship
Author as Producer by Walter Benjamin can be read here.
Gregory Bateson: The best place to get started is with Steps to an Ecology of the Mind.
James Carey: A primer is Communication as Culture.
Grauer gorilla/Playstation 2 anecdote comes from the excellent book, Making the Net Work: Sustainable Development in a Digital Society.
Ecological economics: the information about the cost of extracted resources comes from David Suzuki’s The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet.
Ecological intelligence: This is an emerging topic with no single, clear definition. The best place to start would be with The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy. I also think Frances Moore Lappe‘s EcoMind has a good discussion of the concept (albeit with different terms).
Ecopsychology: The best introduction to the topic can be found in Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind.
Invader Dreaming: I first got exposed to this concept in Eric Michaels’ Bad Aboriginal Art: Tradition, Media and Technological Horizons.
Gaia: My favorite book on this topic is Stephan Harding’s Animate Earth. There’s also a film based on the book.
Oikos: the best discussion I’ve read on the meaning of this term is in Jane Jacob‘s The Nature of Economies.
Organic intellectual is a concept developed by Antonio Gramsci. I have yet to find a really good synopsis of this concept.
Mechanism has been covered by a wide variety of writers, but I think the best places to start is with Carolyn Merchant‘s The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution.
Mind amplification is a term developed by Howard Rheingold. You can read his book on the topic, Net Smart, or take one of his online courses at Howard U.
Ontogenesis as an aspect of ecopsychology is explored thoroughly in Paul Shepard‘s Nature and Madness.
Participatory culture: there a multitude of books about this concept, but you can get a good feeling for it by reading Henry Jenkin’s overview of a white paper that he co-authored, which summarizes many of the key ideas.
Socioenvironmental theory derives from the work of Alf Hornborg. Though heavy in theory, I highly recommend his key work, The Power of the Machine: Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment.
Thomas Banyacya‘s UN presentation can be read here.
World system: For a basic introduction to this important concept, start with Wikipedia.
Chapter 2: Mediating the World System
Convergence: the best place to start is with Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins.
Ecology of “bad ideas” was coined by Gregory Bateson (see Steps to an Ecology of Mind)
Empathic Civilization is a book by Jeremy Rifkin which proposes the idea that media can lead to greater empathy.
Enclosure: Karl Polanyi‘s The Great Transformation is essential reading.
Energy and the Internet: check out “Does cloud computing have a silver lining?” by Sean Cubitt, Robert Hassan and Ingrid Volkmer for a great overview of how the Internet consumes power. I also recommend Greening the Media.
Energy systems: this discussion was inspired by Jeremy Rifkin’s The Third Industrial Revolution.
Information ecology come from the book, Information Ecologies.
Neoliberalism: they key book to get a really good overview is David Harvey’s A Brief History of Neoliberalism.
Networked power: read Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt.
Propaganda model was formulated by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. You can read more about it here.
Chapter 3: Media as Environmental Education
Advertising is the dream life of corporations is term I have seen referenced in different places. I don’t know who coined it, but Sut Jhally makes this claim in the film, The Ad and the Ego.
Consumer sublime is a concept developed by David E. Nye and can be explored in his book, American Technological Sublime.
TEK and environmental worldviews: for a good discussion of how cultures can have particular environmental worldviews, I recommend Devon G. Peña‘s Mexican Americans and the Environment.
Monoculture of the mind is a fantastic book by Vandana Shiva.
Sufficiency: Lynn Twist has an excellent discussion of this concept in The Soul of Money.
Shakira ad discussed in the book.
Whopper Virgins ad discussed in the book
Well-being and sustainability: The Handbook of Sustainability has several good chapters on this.
Chapter 4: Evolving Media Ecosystems
Alphabet’s impact on cognition and culture has been covered by many scholars. A few books that deal with are The Spell of the Sensuous and The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. To learn about the impact of print on society, you can check out the Gutenberg Galaxy by McLuhan.
Autoamputate: to read McLuhans’s discussion of this concept, refer to “The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis” section of the Understanding Media.
Creeping cycle of desensitization is explored in Mass Communication Theories: Explaining Origins, Processes, and Effects.
Languaculture was coined by Michael Agar in Language Shock: Understanding the culture of conversation.
Right/Left brain: McLuhan covers this extensively in The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century (Communication & Society), but it’s a little outdated. For more recent research, look into Iain McGilchrist‘s The Master and his Emissary.
Sean Cubitt reference comes from his book, EcoMedia (Contemporary Cinema 1) (Contemporary Cinema S.).
One Laptop Per Child ad discussed in the book
Chapter 5: Gardening Media Ecosystems
Avatar video discussed in book.
Disturbance and other basic ecological concepts can be learned in this very accessible beginners book, A Primer for Environmental Literacy.
Ecotone is explored in the very significant essay by Ann Pendleton-Jullian, “Design Education and Innovation Ecotones.”
Ethical spectacle come from the fantastic book, Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in Age of Fantasy, by Stephan Duncombe.
Kutiman‘s Thru-You project on YouTube.
Mi’kmaq fight for land rights in Nova Scotia is discussed in Alf Hornborg’s The Power of the Machine: Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment.
Permaculture: You can start exploring at Wikipedia or check out Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren.
Systems thinking: two books that will give you a really good introduction include Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows and the Art of Systems Thinking by Joseph O’Conner and Ian McDermott.
YouTube’s Life in A Day
Chapter 6: Mediating an Earth Democracy
Adidas ad discussed in the book.
“Three scenarios for the future of technology and strong democracy” by Benjamin Barber can be found in A Passion for Democracy.
Biomimicry was popularized by Janine Benyus in her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.
Eco Media alternatives: Story of Stuff, Climate Reality Project, 350.org, Connect the Dots,WiserEarth.org, Democracy Now!, KUNM, KSFR
Kevin DeLuca‘s discussion can be read in Image Politics: The New Rhetoric of Environmental Activism.
Occupy Media: I have posted above an amazing video I wish I had seen before writing this book. I think it summarizes the key points I wanted to make. Also worth checking out is the magazine, Tidal, which hashes out key themes, theory and strategy within the Occupy movement.
Outta Your Backpack Media is an indigenous media justice group in Flagstaff, AZ.
Slow food: I suggest starting with the Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. I would also watch Food Inc..
Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: Though I don’t agree 100% with Paul Mason‘s book, I think it should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the emerging global movements. There’s also the book (available as a free download), Occupy Everything! Reflections on Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere, which offers more in-depth theory and critique from a variety of activists and authors.
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