Arne Kalland (1945-2012) was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He had written extensively on marine resource management and people’s perceptions of nature. Recently he had addressed the relationship between religion and ecology. He edited several books on human–nature relations and done fieldwork in Japan, Norway and Thailand.

• List of FiguresPreface and AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. The Creation of a ‘Superwhale’Chapter 2. The Whale ProtectionistsChapter 3. Diverting the Commodity PathChapter 4. The International Whaling Commission (IWC)Chapter 5. Whaling and IdentityChapter 6. Local Responses to Global IssuesChapter 7. ConclusionBibliographyIndex

“Kalland’s direct approach is to be commended as well as the accessibility of the book (blessedly free of jargonized language), and for creating new avenues for further research into the attribution of values and anti-values to highly contentious environmental discourses.” • Durham Anthropology Journal“Kalland's deconstruction of the ‘Superwhale’ as an environmentalist symbol and magnet for New Age belief systems is a very accessible and engaging example of discourse analysis. Many readers will find it a bit unsettling to recognize their own unexamined pro-whale, anti-whaling sentiments as elements of a hegemonic discourse centered on a figment of shared imagination--a body of values, sentiments, and emotive symbols--rather than a flesh and blood animal.” • Choice“…a unique work. Surprisingly, perhaps, given the prominence of its subject, there is nothing comparable in the literature. It draws on the author’s decades-long devotion to the topic. As a result, it is rich in its command of the academic, policy, and popular literatures on the subject. It is, simply put, authoritative. It is also convincing.” • Michael Dove, Yale University“a thorough and very interesting analysis of the whaling controversy.” • Kay Milton, Queen’s University Belfast

Arne Kalland (1945-2012) was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He had written extensively on marine resource management and people’s perceptions of nature. Recently he had addressed the relationship between religion and ecology. He edited several books on human–nature relations and done fieldwork in Japan, Norway and Thailand.

• List of FiguresPreface and AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. The Creation of a ‘Superwhale’Chapter 2. The Whale ProtectionistsChapter 3. Diverting the Commodity PathChapter 4. The International Whaling Commission (IWC)Chapter 5. Whaling and IdentityChapter 6. Local Responses to Global IssuesChapter 7. ConclusionBibliographyIndex

“Kalland’s direct approach is to be commended as well as the accessibility of the book (blessedly free of jargonized language), and for creating new avenues for further research into the attribution of values and anti-values to highly contentious environmental discourses.” • Durham Anthropology Journal“Kalland's deconstruction of the ‘Superwhale’ as an environmentalist symbol and magnet for New Age belief systems is a very accessible and engaging example of discourse analysis. Many readers will find it a bit unsettling to recognize their own unexamined pro-whale, anti-whaling sentiments as elements of a hegemonic discourse centered on a figment of shared imagination--a body of values, sentiments, and emotive symbols--rather than a flesh and blood animal.” • Choice“…a unique work. Surprisingly, perhaps, given the prominence of its subject, there is nothing comparable in the literature. It draws on the author’s decades-long devotion to the topic. As a result, it is rich in its command of the academic, policy, and popular literatures on the subject. It is, simply put, authoritative. It is also convincing.” • Michael Dove, Yale University“a thorough and very interesting analysis of the whaling controversy.” • Kay Milton, Queen’s University Belfast

Arne Kalland (1945-2012) was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He had written extensively on marine resource management and people’s perceptions of nature. Recently he had addressed the relationship between religion and ecology. He edited several books on human–nature relations and done fieldwork in Japan, Norway and Thailand.

• List of FiguresPreface and AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. The Creation of a ‘Superwhale’Chapter 2. The Whale ProtectionistsChapter 3. Diverting the Commodity PathChapter 4. The International Whaling Commission (IWC)Chapter 5. Whaling and IdentityChapter 6. Local Responses to Global IssuesChapter 7. ConclusionBibliographyIndex

“Kalland’s direct approach is to be commended as well as the accessibility of the book (blessedly free of jargonized language), and for creating new avenues for further research into the attribution of values and anti-values to highly contentious environmental discourses.” • Durham Anthropology Journal“Kalland's deconstruction of the ‘Superwhale’ as an environmentalist symbol and magnet for New Age belief systems is a very accessible and engaging example of discourse analysis. Many readers will find it a bit unsettling to recognize their own unexamined pro-whale, anti-whaling sentiments as elements of a hegemonic discourse centered on a figment of shared imagination--a body of values, sentiments, and emotive symbols--rather than a flesh and blood animal.” • Choice“…a unique work. Surprisingly, perhaps, given the prominence of its subject, there is nothing comparable in the literature. It draws on the author’s decades-long devotion to the topic. As a result, it is rich in its command of the academic, policy, and popular literatures on the subject. It is, simply put, authoritative. It is also convincing.” • Michael Dove, Yale University“a thorough and very interesting analysis of the whaling controversy.” • Kay Milton, Queen’s University Belfast