Environmental Justice Flashcards
(25 cards)
What does the phrase “there’s no such thing as a ‘natural disaster’” imply about environmental risks?
It implies that risk and vulnerability are socially produced and mediated—disasters are shaped by societal conditions, not just natural forces.
What is environmental justice (EJ)?
Environmental justice is the principle that all people and communities deserve equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations.
How does EJ differ from traditional environmentalism?
EJ links environmental protection to social justice, focusing on people’s lived environments rather than pristine ‘wilderness’ areas.
What is conservation and protection environmentalism?
It focuses on preserving wilderness spaces separate from human influence.
What characterizes bourgeois environmentalism?
It emphasizes aesthetic concerns—clean, green spaces for elite leisure and recreation.
What is market environmentalism?
It promotes market-based solutions to environmental problems, like carbon trading.
What is environmentalism of the poor?
It views environmental protection as essential for livelihood and survival.
How do indigenous philosophies conceptualize the environment?
They see humans and non-humans as kin, emphasizing interconnectedness.
What is environmental racism?
Racial discrimination in environmental policy-making, enforcement, and placement of toxic facilities in communities of color.
What did studies find to be the strongest predictor of toxic waste site locations in the U.S.?
Race was found to be the most important predictor.
What are the three main explanations for environmental injustice?
- Economic – industry follows profit motives
- Sociopolitical – targeting communities with least resistance
- Racial – systemic discrimination and institutional racism
Besides race, what other factors contribute to environmental inequality?
Gender, class, ethnicity, and immigration status.
How does Robert Bullard define ‘the environment’?
As everything where we live, work, play, go to school, and includes both the physical and cultural environment.
What social issues are also environmental justice issues?
Housing discrimination, food insecurity, police brutality, unsafe working conditions, poor healthcare access
How does the phrase ‘I can’t breathe’ connect to environmental justice?
It symbolizes both literal and metaphorical suffocation due to environmental racism and systemic inequality.
What health conditions made Eric Garner vulnerable to police violence and early death?
Asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity—conditions tied to environmental and racial health disparities.
What does the quote from Dillon and Sze (2016) imply about chronic illness and race?
That chronic illness in Black communities should be seen as social, not just individual, problems rooted in structural inequality.
What is climate justice according to Sultana (2021)?
Addressing how climate change impacts people differently and rectifying those injustices in fair and equitable ways.
What are the key elements of Critical Environmental Justice (Pellow, 2016)?
Recognizes multiple intersecting inequalities, multi-scalar analysis (body to globe), aims for transformative social change, centers vulnerable communities
What does Ranganathan (2022) mean by ‘environmental unfreedoms’?
Socioecological harms that rob people of dignity and freedom, shifting the focus from legal justice to lived experience and freedom dreams.
What is the critique of focusing only on environmental death in Black communities (Bruno, 2024)?
It limits understanding of Black spaces to suffering, ignoring everyday resistance, care, and hope within those communities.
What does Bruno propose instead?
A shift toward recognizing everyday practices of living, resisting, and caring in the face of environmental racism.
How is the experience of environmental harm shaped?
By race, class, gender, and geography.
How should the concept of ‘environment’ be redefined?
To include not just nature, but also urban spaces and social systems like housing, policing, and healthcare.
