Consumerism and capitalist and socialist industry have reached the point where state power is legitimatized by its ability to increase the number of commodities. A unique culture has been created in which marketing is the main social bond. Values no longer shape and condition needs, wants, desires, or preferences. Leiss draws on economics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology to show the vagueness of our thought on the relation between nature and culture, desire and reason, needs and commodities. This book raises serious, vital questions for all those concerned about the future of our present society.

Newly updated for the digital era, this classic textbook provides a comprehensive historical study of advertising and its function within contemporary society by tracing advertising's influence throughout different media and cultural periods, from early magazines through to social media. With several new chapters on the rise of the Internet, mobile, and social media, this fourth edition offers new insights into the role of Google, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube as both media and advertising companies, as well as examining the role of brand culture in the 21st century.

Concern over ecological and environmental problems grows daily, and many believe we’re at a critical tipping point. Scientists, social thinkers, public officials, and the public recognize that failure to understand the destructive impact of industrial society and advanced technologies on the delicate balance of organic life in the global ecosystem will result in devastating problems for future generations. In The Domination of Nature William Leiss argues that this global predicament must be understood in terms of deeply rooted attitudes towards nature. He traces the origins, development, and social consequences of an idea whose imprint is everywhere in modern thought: the idea of the domination of nature. In part 1 Leiss traces the idea of the domination of nature from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Francis Bacon’s seminal work provides the pivotal point for this discussion, and through an original interpretation of Bacon’s thought, Leiss shows how momentous ambiguities in the idea were incorporated into modern thought. By the beginning of the twentieth century the concept had become firmly identified with scientific and technological progress. This fact defines the task of part 2. Using important contributions by European sociologists and philosophers, Leiss critically analyzes the role of science and technology in the modern world. In the concluding chapter he puts the idea of mastery over nature into historical perspective and explores a new approach, based on the possibilities of the liberation of nature. Originally published in 1972, The Domination of Nature was part of the first wave of widespread interest in environmental issues. In a new preface Leiss explores the concept of eco-dominion and the moral obligations of human citizens of the twenty-first century.

Pandemics, massive earthquakes, war, and other catastrophes inspire immediate action because their casualties and destruction are immediately visible. Climate change is an unyielding problem because its long-range dangers are hidden, and thus it is a global risk unlike anything in human experience. The federal government recently announced aggressive climate targets for Canada. We have committed to producing net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which will require major changes for our economy and way of life. Canadian citizens need to understand why our most distinguished climate scientists and our senior political leaders think that we must meet this target. Canada and Climate Change explains the importance of policies that will ensure we meet the net-zero emissions target. William Leiss provides a firm grasp on what climate change is and how scientists have described shifts in the earth's climate as they have occurred over hundreds of millions of years and as they are likely to occur in the near future, especially by the end of this century. Leiss argues that citizens have a right to place their trust in what climate scientists tell us. Canada and Climate Change is an essential primer on where we stand on the issue of climate change in Canada and what will unfold in the years ahead.

Concern over ecological and environmental problems grows daily, and many believe we’re at a critical tipping point. Scientists, social thinkers, public officials, and the public recognize that failure to understand the destructive impact of industrial society and advanced technologies on the delicate balance of organic life in the global ecosystem will result in devastating problems for future generations. In The Domination of Nature William Leiss argues that this global predicament must be understood in terms of deeply rooted attitudes towards nature. He traces the origins, development, and social consequences of an idea whose imprint is everywhere in modern thought: the idea of the domination of nature. In part 1 Leiss traces the idea of the domination of nature from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Francis Bacon’s seminal work provides the pivotal point for this discussion, and through an original interpretation of Bacon’s thought, Leiss shows how momentous ambiguities in the idea were incorporated into modern thought. By the beginning of the twentieth century the concept had become firmly identified with scientific and technological progress. This fact defines the task of part 2. Using important contributions by European sociologists and philosophers, Leiss critically analyzes the role of science and technology in the modern world. In the concluding chapter he puts the idea of mastery over nature into historical perspective and explores a new approach, based on the possibilities of the liberation of nature. Originally published in 1972, The Domination of Nature was part of the first wave of widespread interest in environmental issues. In a new preface Leiss explores the concept of eco-dominion and the moral obligations of human citizens of the twenty-first century.

Newly updated for the digital era, this classic textbook provides a comprehensive historical study of advertising and its function within contemporary society by tracing advertising's influence throughout different media and cultural periods, from early magazines through to social media. With several new chapters on the rise of the Internet, mobile, and social media, this fourth edition offers new insights into the role of Google, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube as both media and advertising companies, as well as examining the role of brand culture in the 21st century.

The Essential Marcuse provides an overview of Herbert Marcuse's political and philosophical writing over four decades, with excerpts from his major books as well as essays from various academic journals. The most influential radical philosopher of the 1960s, Marcuse's writings are noteworthy for their uncompromising opposition to both capitalism and communism. His words are as relevant to today's society as they were at the time they were written.
Andrew Feenberg is a Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. William Leiss, O.C., Ph.D., FRSC, has been a professor at seven Canadian universities. Both Feenberg and Leiss worked under Herbert Marcuse as graduate students at the University of California, San Diego.

In the past two years, the world has experienced how unsound economic practices can disrupt global economic and social order. Today's volatile global financial situation highlights the importance of managing risk and the consequences of poor decision making.

"The Doom Loop in the Financial Sector "reveals an underlying paradox of risk management: the better we become at assessing risks, the more we feel comfortable taking them. Using the current financial crisis as a case study, renowned risk expert William Leiss engages with the new concept of "black hole risk" -- risk so great that estimating the potential downsides is impossible. His risk-centred analysis of the lead-up to the crisis reveals the practices that brought it about and how it became common practice to use limited risk assessments as a justification to gamble huge sums of money on unsound economic policies.

In order to limit future catastrophes, Leiss recommends international cooperation to manage black hole risks. He believes that, failing this, humanity could be susceptible to a dangerous nexus of global disasters that would threaten human civilization as we know it.

The essential problem is the failure to recognize that controversies over risks are "normal events" in modern society and as such will be with us for the foreseeable future. Three key propositions define these events: risk management decisions are inherently disputable; public perceptions of risk are legitimate and should be treated as such; the public needs to be intensively involved in the processes of risk evaluation and management. Leiss and his collaborators chronicle these organizational risks in a set of detailed case studies on genetically modified foods, cellular telephones, the notorious fuel additive MMT, pulp mill effluent, nuclear power, toxic substances legislation, tobacco, and the new type of "moral risks" associated with genetics technologies such as cloning. Contributors include Debora L. Van Nijnatten (Sir Wilfred Laurier University), Michael D. Mehta (University of Saskatchewan), Stephen Hill (University of Calgary), Eric Darier (Greenpeace), Greg Paoli (Decisionalysis Risk Consultants, Inc.), and Peter V. Hodson (Queen's University).

The first case study deals with the mad cow fiasco of 1996, one of the most expensive and tragic examples of poor risk management in the last twenty-five years. For ten years the British government failed to acknowledge the possibility of a link between mad cow disease and Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human equivalent, until increased scientific evidence and public pressure forced them to take action, resulting in the slaughter of more than one million cattle. The second study looks at what is commonly known as hamburger disease, caused by a virulent form of the E. coli bacterium, which has struck thousands and killed over thirty people in the last few years. Despite its widespread effects, it is unclear whether scientific knowledge on preventing the disease is reaching the public. Other case studies include the use of a genetically engineered hormone to increase milk production in cows, health risks associated with silicone breast implants, public controversies surrounding dioxins and PCBs, and the introduction of agricultural biotechnology. These case studies show that institutions routinely fail to communicate the scientific basis of various high-profile risks. These failures to inform the public make it difficult for governments, industry, and society to manage risk controversies sensibly and often result in massive costs. With its detailed analyses of specific risk management controversies, Mad Cows and Mother's Milk will help us avoid future mistakes.