An Ideological Criticism of The Green New Deal and Media Responses

Using an ecofeminist lens, this project aims to analyze the ideologies surrounding the creation and response to the Green New Deal (GND). By completing an ideological analysis of the GND, in addition to examining some news media portrayals of the GND, this thesis analyzes the underlying motivations and ideologies surrounding female politicians, climate change, and climate policies. This thesis examines reads the GND not as a policy that was meant to be passed, but instead as an ideological statement about humans and their relationship to the environment. The news media portrayals exhibit varying coverage of the GND’s effectiveness, varying use of appeals to pathos, and shared use of backgrounding and anthropocentric values. These statements reflect both appeals and challenges to capitalism, patriarchy, and anthropocentrism, which prioritize special interests and money over the safety and well-being of the Earth, plants, animals, and ultimately humans. These counter-hegemonic ideologies present in the GND challenge traditional ways of thinking about the environment. I argue that while AOC proposes a radical reordering of the United States economy, the news media portrayals and parts of the GND still echo hegemonic discourses. Furthermore, I argue that these pervasive hegemonic discourses are manifestations of the problems facing collaborative and holistic climate policy