Environmental communication in India: Lessons from Orissa

This paper takes a philosophical approach in exploring communication on environmental change, and through existing research and case studies, looks at environmental communication in the Indian paradox: an ancient philosophy that respects nature, and a modern nation that has shunned the natural world for development. The paper looks at the mass media, perceptions of nature and environmentalism in traditional thought, while drawing from examples in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, where the role of communication is more complex provided the dichotomous relationship between Orissa’s fragile ecology and an adamant political environment.