Environmental Justice

Catalog description

(same as PEA_ST 3330 ). Environmental justice refers to the ways in which the "cost and benefits" of modern industrial society are distributed among social groups. This course is concerned with justice, not as an abstract concept, and inequality not in terms of numbers in a bank account. Social justice or inequality are lived, embodied experiences. An individual's likelihood of experiencing environmental harm is related to intersecting gender, race and class formations, among other things. Justice or inequality is not only embodied, it also happens in places--national and regional differences matter. In this course we will look at some of the extensive literature documenting the ways in which communities of color and poor communities are subject to disproportionate environmental risks. In addition, we will focus on gender as an important category in understanding environmental inequality. Credit Hour s : 3