Environmental Justice And Environmentalism

by Sandler, Ronald; Pezzullo, Phaedra C.

• ISBN13: 9780262693400
• ISBN10: 0262693402
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-12
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Although the environmental movement and the environmental justice movement would seem to be natural allies, their relationship over the years has often been characterized by conflict and division. The environmental justice movement has charged the mainstream environmental movement with racism and elitism and has criticized its activist agenda on the grounds that it values wilderness over people. Environmental justice advocates have called upon environmental organizations to act on environmental injustice and address racism and classism in their own hiring and organizational practices, lobbying agenda, and political platforms. This book examines the current relationship between the two movements in both conceptual and practical terms and explores the possibilities for future collaboration. In ten original essays, contributors from a variety of disciplines consider such topics as the relationship between the two movements' ethical commitments and activist goals, instances of successful cooperation in U.S. contexts, and the challenges posed to both movements by globalization and climate change. They examine the possibility and desirability of one unified movement as opposed to two complementary ones by means of analyses and case studies; these include a story of asbestos hazards that begins in a Montana mine and ends with the release of asbestos insulation into the air of Manhattan after the collapse of the World Trade Center. This book, part of a necessary rethinking of the relationship between the two movements, shows that effective, mutually beneficial alliances can advance the missions of both. Contributors: Kim Allen, J. Robert Cox, Vinci Daro, Kevin DeLuca, Giovanna Di Chiro, Daniel Faber, Dorothy Holland, Dale Jamieson, M. Nils Peterson, Markus John Peterson, Tarla Rai Peterson, Phaedra C. Pezzullo, J. Timmons Roberts, Ronald Sandler, Steve Schwarze, Peter Wenz

Author Biography

Ronald Sandler is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University.

Phaedra C. Pezzullo is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Contributors	p. xi
Introduction: Revisiting the Environmental Justice Challenge to Environmentalism	p. 1
Conceptual Issues	p. 25
A Wilderness Environmentalism Manifesto	p. 27
Contesting the Infinite Self-Absorption of Humans
Does Environmentalism Promote Injustice for the Poor?	p. 57
Justice: The Heart of Environmentalism	p. 85
United States Environments	p. 103
Becoming an Environmental Justice Activist	p. 105
A More "Productive" Environmental Justice Politics	p. 135
Movement Alliances in Massachusetts for Clean Production and Regional Equity
The Silences and Possibilities of Asbestos Activism	p. 165
Stories from Libby and Beyond
Moving toward Sustainability	p. 189
Integrating Social Practice and Material Process
International Environments	p. 223
Golden Tropes and Democratic Betrayals	p. 225
Prospects for the Environment and Environmental Justice in Neoliberal "Free Trade" Agreements
Indigenous Peoples and Biocolonialism	p. 251
Defining the "Science of Environmental Justice" in the Century of the Gene
Globalizing Environmental Justice	p. 285
Conclusion: Working Together and Working Apart	p. 309
Principles of Environmental Justice	p. 321
Sierra Club Guidelines of Environmental Justice Grassroots Organizing	p. 325
Principles of Working Together	p. 327
Index	p. 333
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