Environmental justice through superblocks? A geospatial analysis of Berlin’s Kiezblock initiatives

Climate change, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, species extinction—all of these issues point to one thing: environmental health is a global issue that concerns all nations of the world. Now add environmental justice to the list. From South Bronx to Soweto, from Penang to El Paso, communities all over the world are finding commonality in their experiences and goals in seeking environmental justice. Environmental justice was defined by Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, in his seminal 1990 work Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality as “the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations.” In countries around the world, the concept of environmental justice can apply to communities where those at a perceived disadvantage—whether due to their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, immigration status, lack of land ownership, geographic isolation, formal education, occupational characteristics, political power, gender, or other characteristics—puts them at disproportionate risk for being exposed to environmental hazards. At a global scale, environmental justice can also be applied to scenarios such as industrialized countries exporting their wastes to developing nations. In either case, “environmental and human rights have no boundaries, because pollution has no boundaries,” says Heeten Kalan, senior program officer of the Global Environmental Health and Justice Fund of the New World Foundation in New York City. “Environmental justice organizations are starting to understand that they are working in a global context.”

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice in African Cities

Author’s Introduction Over the last 25 years, the environmental justice movement has emerged from its earliest focus on US social movements combating environmental racism to an influential global phenomenon. Environmental justice research has also undergone spectacular growth and diffusion in the last two decades. From its earliest roots in sociology, the field is now firmly entrenched in several different academic disciplines including geography, urban planning, public health, law, ethnic studies, and public policy. Environmental justice refers simultaneously to a vibrant and growing academic research field, a system of social movements aimed at addressing various environmental and social inequalities, and public policies crafted to ameliorate conditions of environmental and social injustice. Academia is responding to this social problem by offering courses under various rubrics, such as ‘Race, Poverty and the Environment, Environmental Racism, Environmental Justice’, ‘Urban Planning, Public Health And Environmental Justice’, and so on. Courses on environmental justice offer students opportunities to critically and reflexively explore issues of race and racism, social inequality, social movements, public/environmental health, public policy and law, and intersections of science and policy. Integrating modules on environmental justice can help professors engage students in action research, service learning, and more broadly, critical pedagogy. This article offers an overview of the current state of the field and offers a range of resources for teaching concepts of environmental racism, inequality and injustice in the classroom. Author recommends Pellow, D. and R. Brulle 2005. Power, Justice and the Environment : a Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. The primary focus of this edited collection is to offer a ‘Critical Appraisal’ of the environmental justice movement. The articles in this book are strong, focused on broad areas of: critical assessment, new strategies, and the challenge of globalization. Downey, L. and B. Hawkins 2008. ‘Race, Income, and Environmental Inequality in the United States.’ Sociological Perspectives 51 : 759–81 . This article is an effective overview of the current sociological literature on environmental inequality using quantitative methods. L. Cole and S. Foster 2001. From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Ris of the Environmental Justice Movement. New York: New York University Press The primary focus of this book is an overview of the US Environmental Justice Movement. Unique in itself, the authors, an activist lawyer and law professor, offer a well‐written overview of the movement. Taylor, Dorceta E. 2000. ‘The Rise of the Environmental Justice Paradigm: Injustice Framing and the Social Construction of Environmental Discourses.’ American Behavioral Scientist 43 : 508–80. A leading environmental justice scholar discusses the issue of injustice framing. Morello‐Frosch, R. A. 2002. ‘Discrimination and the Political Economy of Environmental Inequality.’ Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 20(2002): 477–96. In a critique that focuses on the political economy of place, geography, and ethnic studies, Morello‐Frosch integrates relevant social and legal theories with a spatialized economic critique to formulate a more supple theory of environmental discrimination that focuses on historical patterns of industrial development and racialized labor markets, suburbanization and segregation, and economic restructuring. Pastor, Manuel, Rachel Morello‐Frosch, James Sadd, Carlos Porras and Michele Prichard 2005. ‘Citizens, Science, and Data Judo: Leveraging Secondary Data Analysis to Build a Community‐Academic Collaborative for Environmental Justice in Southern California,’ in Methods For Conducting Community‐Based Participatory Research For Health , edited by Barbara A. Israel, Eugenia Eng, Amy J. Schulz and Edith A. Parker. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Exemplary reflexive analysis of the power of research as intervention in environmental justice struggles. Online materials 25 stories from the Central Valley: http://twentyfive.ucdavis.edu Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/ US EPA Environmental Justice: http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/ Environmental Justice of Field Studies: University of Michigan: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/environmentaljusticefieldstudies/home Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment: http://www.crpe‐ej.org/ National Black Environmental Justice Network: http://www.nbejn.org/ Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative: http://www.ejcc.org/ Environmental Justice Project: http://ej.ucdavis.edu/ Sample syllabus Ethnic Studies 103: Environmental Racism Fall 2008 Instructor:

Environmental JusticeVol. 13, No. 3 RoundtableRoundtable on the Pandemics of Racism, Environmental Injustice, and COVID-19 in AmericaModerator: Sacoby M. Wilson, Participants: Robert Bullard, Jacqui Patterson, and Stephen B. ThomasModerator: Sacoby M. WilsonAddress correspondence to: Sacoby M. Wilson, 4200 Valley Drive, 2234D School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA E-mail Address: [email protected]Dr. Sacoby M. Wilson is an associate professor and director of Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH), Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. Search for more papers by this author, Participants: Robert BullardRobert Bullard is a distinguished professor of Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, USA.Search for more papers by this author, Jacqui PattersonMs. Jacqui Patterson is senior director, Environmental and Climate Justice Program, NAACP, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.Search for more papers by this author, and Stephen B. ThomasDr. Stephen B. Thomas is a professor, Health Policy & Management; director, Maryland Center for Health Equity; School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:16 Jun 2020https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2020.0019AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookXLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byLearning on Health Fairness and Environmental Justice via Interactive VisualizationCommunity Perspectives and Environmental Justice in California's San Joaquin Valley Humberto Flores-Landeros, Chantelise Pells, Miriam S. Campos-Martinez, Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou, Jose Pablo Ortiz-Partida, and Josué Medellín-Azuara12 December 2022 | Environmental Justice, Vol. 15, No. 6Identifying environmental factors that influence immune response to SARS-CoV-2: Systematic evidence map protocolEnvironment International, Vol. 164Beyond fairness: the Covid-19 pandemic as an expression of environmental injustice20 March 2022 | Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, Vol. 6Selecting Data Analytic and Modeling Methods to Support Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Investigations: A Critical Review and Guidance Framework8 February 2022 | Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 56, No. 5The Social and Economic Implications of Environmental Justice for the Elderly: A Case for Social Work Interventions in the Caribbean10 July 2022The Analysis of Urban Park Catchment Areas - Perspectives from Quality Service of Hangang Park -31 December 2021 | Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture, Vol. 49, No. 6Building Adaptive Capacity Through Civic Environmental Stewardship: Responding to COVID-19 Alongside Compounding and Concurrent Crises11 November 2021 | Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, Vol. 3COVID-19: Evidenced Health Disparity5 August 2021 | Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, No. 3Pandemic disruptions in energy and the environmentElem Sci Anth, Vol. 8, No. 1At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental HistoryJournal for the History of Environment and Society, Vol. 5 Volume 13Issue 3Jun 2020 InformationCopyright 2020, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Moderator: Sacoby M. Wilson, Participants: Robert Bullard, Jacqui Patterson, and Stephen B. Thomas.Roundtable on the Pandemics of Racism, Environmental Injustice, and COVID-19 in America.Environmental Justice.Jun 2020.56-64.http://doi.org/10.1089/env.2020.0019Published in Volume: 13 Issue 3: June 16, 2020Online Ahead of Print:June 5, 2020PDF download

Ecology and Environmental Justice: Developing an ESA Agenda

From the First National People of Color Congress on Environmental Leadership to WTO street protests of the new millennium, environmental justice activists have challenged the mainstream movement by linking social inequalities to the uneven distribution of environmental dangers. Grassroots movements in poor communities and communities of color strive to protect neighborhoods and worksites from environmental degradation and struggle to gain equal access to the natural resources that sustain their cultures. This book examines environmental justice in its social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions in both local and global contexts, with special attention paid to intersections of race, gender, and class inequality. The first book to link political studies, literary analysis, and teaching strategies, it offers a multivocal approach that combines perspectives from organizations such as the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and the International Indigenous Treaty Council with the insights of such notable scholars as Devon Pena, Giovanna Di Chiro, and Valerie Kuletz, and also includes a range of newer voices in the field. This collection approaches environmental justice concerns from diverse geographical, ethnic, and disciplinary perspectives, always viewing environmental issues as integral to problems of social inequality and oppression. It offers new case studies of native Alaskans' protests over radiation poisoning; Hispanos' struggles to protect their land and water rights; Pacific Islanders' resistance to nuclear weapons testing and nuclear waste storage; and the efforts of women employees of maquiladoras to obtain safer living and working environments along the U.S.-Mexican border. The selections also include cultural analyses of environmental justice arts, such as community art and greening projects in inner-city Baltimore, and literary analyses of writers such as Jimmy Santiago Baca, Linda Hogan, Barbara Neely, Nez Perce orators, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Karen Yamashita artists who address issues such as toxicity and cancer, lead poisoning of urban African American communities, and Native American struggles to remove dams and save salmon. The book closes with a section of essays that offer models to teachers hoping to incorporate these issues and texts into their classrooms. By combining this array of perspectives, this book makes the field of environmental justice more accessible to scholars, students, and concerned readers. CONTENTS Introduction: Environmental Justice Politics, Poetics, and Pedagogy / Joni Adamson, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel SteinEnvironmental Justice: A Roundtable Discussion with Simon Ortiz, Teresa Leal, Devon Pena, and Terrell Dixon / Joni Adamson and Rachel Stein Politics1. Testimonies from Doris Bradshaw, Sterling Gologergen, Edgar Mouton, Alberto Saldamando, and Paul Smith / Mei Mei Evans2. Throwing Rocks at the Sun: An Interview with Teresa Leal / Joni Adamson3. Endangered Landscapes and Disappearing Peoples? Identity, Place, and Community in Ecological Politics / Devon G. Pena4. Who Hears Their Cry? African American Women and the Fight for Environmental Justice in Memphis, Tennessee / Andrea Simpson5. Radiation, Tobacco, and Illness in Point Hope, Alaska: Approaches to the Facts in Contaminated Communities / Nelta Edwards6. The Movement for Environmental Justice in the Pacific Islands / Valerie Kuletz Poetics7. Toward an Environmental Justice Ecocriticism / T. V. Reed8. From Environmental Justice Literature to the Literature of Environmental Justice / Julie Sze9. and Environmental Justice / Mei Mei Evans10. Activism as Affirmation: Gender and Environmental Justice in Linda Hogan's Solar Storms and Barbara Neely's Blanche Cleans Up / Rachel Stein11. Some Live More Downstream than Others: Cancer, Gender, and Environmental Justice / Jim Tarter12. Struggle in Ogoniland: Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Justice / Susan Comfort13. Toward a Symbiosis of Ecology and Justice: Water and Land Conflicts in Frank Waters, John Nichols, and Jimmy Santiago Baca / Tom Lynch14. Saving the Salmon, Saving the People: Environmental Justice and Columbia River Tribal Literatures / Janis Johnson15. Sustaining the Urban Forest and Creating Landscapes of Hope: An Interview with Cinder Hypki and Bryant Spoon Smith / Giovanna Di Chiro Pedagogy16. Teaching for Transformation: Lessons from Environmental Justice / Robert Figueroa17. Notes on Cross-Border Environmental Justice Education / Soenke Zehle18. Changing the Nature of Environmental Studies: Teaching Environmental Justice to Mainstream Students / Steve Chase19. Teaching Literature of Environmental Justice in an Advanced Gender Studies Course / Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine

Environmental justice and rural studies: A critical conversation and invitation to collaboration

Environmental justice is a term that includes both exposure to environmental ‘bads’ as well as access to environmental ‘goods’ which might be unequally experienced by different socio‑economic groups. In other words, environmental justice scholars study whether everybody can have an equal right to a healthy, nurturing environment which supports their development and well‑being. The environmental justice movement arose in response to the so‑called ‘environmental racism’ in the USA which affected communities of blue‑collar workers, people with lower income and of Afro‑American, Asian, Latin or native origins. Although initially environmental (in)justice was rooted in racial discrimination in the USA, nowadays it encompasses a wider range of issues, including problems at the local and global level, from degradation and pollution of natural resources to aspects related to spatial planning. Unequal access to environmental amenities – such as green spaces – was not the main focus of the discourse, however, it is gaining attention nowadays, especially in the context of urban environment. Urban green spaces influence health and well‑being of urban residents, but access to them can be uneven in terms of socio‑spatial heterogeneity. Growing challenges of living in cities, related to, among others, climate change, densification or sprawling of developments, urban heat islands, and other nuisances, require sustainable management of green spaces and provision of equal (socially just) access to benefits provided by these areas. Moreover, another important aspect of the discussion is linked to potentially beneficial planning decisions (e.g. increasing availability of urban green spaces) and their long‑term consequences, which may eventually lead to gentrification and increased social inequalities (environmental injustice). Complexity of the problem related to availability of green spaces in cities needs an interdisciplinary approach which combines ecological, spatial and socio‑economic aspects. The article reviews the current state‑of‑the‑art literature in the field of environmental justice, with particular emphasis on green space availability in the context of urban environment.

Climate change and urbanization contribute to uneven distributions of heat exposure that disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities resulting in environmental (in)justice. While studies in the USA highlight the elevated heat exposure faced by low-income and ethnic minority groups, similar insights are lacking for other countries. This knowledge gap impedes a comprehensive understanding of environmental (in)justice experienced by various socio-economic and ethnic groups and hampers the identification of inadequacy in urban planning policies.This research seeks to bridge the gap between social and environmental sciences to address environmental (in)justice by establishing a link between extreme heat (at both regional and country level) and socio-economic disparities within individual municipalities or counties. So far our analysis covers Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and the U.K. Using remotely sensed satellite data for Land Surface temperature mapping for summer and Census data of countries, the analysis explores various socio-economic indicators—such as education levels, age demographics, and the proportion of foreign populations.By recognizing the unequal distribution of urban heat and its disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, there emerges a critical mandate to prioritize equitable urban planning policies. This research underscores the urgency for policymakers and urban planners to prioritize environmental justice interventions and integrate strategies that aim to reduce race and class disparities concerning urban heat. The research also serves as a model for similar analyses globally fostering inclusive, equitable and resilient urban landscapes.

Environment and environmental justice is critical in social work education and practice as the global climate crisis has significant implications for human relationships with the natural and physical environment and ultimately human rights. This chapter considers rights-based and social justice principles and perspectives using an integrated social development approach for transforming systems that create injustices and inequities at a societal level that directly affect individual and community wellbeing. The chapter discusses the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development, and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. The role of social workers in promoting environmental justice through green social work is discussed, and two case studies from Pakistan and Jamaica illustrate the complex nature of environmental justice concerns. The social dimensions of extreme weather events and disasters and the value of social work practice are highlighted. The chapter concludes with an emphasis on international collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches that can inform social work practice in facilitating sustainable development and environmental justice.

In 1983 the New York artist Barbara Kruger released a photomontage showing the face of a female model, resting on a grassy background, with her eyes closed and covered by two leaves. Kruger completed the piece by adding the statement, “We won’t play nature to your culture.” In many ways, this image marked a turning point in America’s popular and intellectual response to the issue of the environment. Twenty-one years earlier, in 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring had launched a new era in the environmentalist movement, prompting many Americans to begin associating their own physical health with that of the environment. But whereas the publication of Silent Spring and the establishment of Earth Day in 1970 contributed to a far-reaching shift in the ways both scholars and laypersons thought about the practical implications of humanity’s physical engagement with nature, Kruger’s statement represented yet another approach to considering this relationship.

Environmental (in)justice arising from Climate change and urbanization exhibit uneven distributions, specifically impacting disadvantaged communities. While studies in the USA highlight the elevated heat exposure faced by low-income and ethnic minority groups, similar insights are lacking for other countries. This knowledge gap impedes a comprehensive understanding of environmental (in)justice experienced by various socio-economic and ethnic groups and hampers the identification of inadequacy in urban planning policies.This research seeks to bridge the gap between social and environmental sciences to address environmental (in)justice by establishing a link between extreme heat (at both regional and country level) and socio-economic disparities for Australia and New Zealand. Using remotely sensed satellite data for Land Surface temperature mapping for summer (night time) and Census data of countries, the analysis explores various socio-economic indicators—such as education levels, age demographics, and the proportion of foreign populations.Australia and New Zealand serve as pertinent case studies due to their distinct socio-economic landscapes and Indigenous populations. By recognizing the unequal distribution of urban heat and its disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, there emerges a critical mandate to prioritize equitable urban planning policies. This research underscores the urgency for policymakers and urban planners to prioritize environmental justice interventions and integrate strategies that aim to reduce race and class disparities concerning urban heat. The findings also serve as a template for similar analyses globally; fostering inclusive, equitable and resilient urban landscapes.

Rapid urbanisation is a major transformative driving force of continuous and contested changes in socio-spatial urban structure. Such changes can lead to sociospatial injustice especially when they involve marginalised populations. Managing rapid urbanisation thus requires goal-oriented inclusive urban planning and policies to secure sustainable development. The theory of environmental justice, as distributive justice, recognition justice, and procedural justice, has been developed in urban planning literature. The experience of justice – or the lack thereof – also affects sense of place, which in relation to urban change includes how people experience, relate to and create meaning in urban spaces. This thesis aims to deepen the understanding of the interplay between sense of place and issues of environmental justice in relation to urban densification in Swedish stigmatised neighbourhoods. The thesis is based on a case study with multiple sampling techniques: document analysis, visual discourse analysis, photo elicitation, and interviews with residents, planners and stakeholders. The first paper focuses on the role of media in creating discourses concerning e.g. safety and security and how these discourses impact the creation of socio-spatial injustice. The second paper concentrates on the impact of an urban densification project to shed light on issues of environmental justice and public participation. In the third paper, the concept of sense of densification is introduced, and it examines how densification projects affect residents’ lives, both in outcomes and as processes. The thesis concludes that the combined knowledge about sense of place and environmental justice research from an urban planning standpoint can provide a greater understanding of how to motivate residents to act collectively to improve their community and participate in local planning processes. This is important for planners and stakeholders, in order to strengthen a sustainable planning and design process by understanding and honouring the value of local meanings of places.

As urban problems and the COVID-19 pandemic worsen, public health issues are taken seriously. As an important part of building environment, urban green space has been concerned about its health. The paper of 2035 in Web of Science Core database is taken as the research object, and CiteSpace visualization software is used for research and analysis to clarify the status quo of urban green space and health (UGSH) field. The research shows that the research object has gradually expanded from a single green space to cities, countries and the world. The research focuses on the relationship between people and green space, and discusses the comprehensive benefits of green space. Research methods from early investigation and evaluation, simulation experiment to qualitative and quantitative cross analysis, formed a relatively perfect subjective and objective research paradigm. In addition, the research content mainly focuses on the urban ecosystem, mental health and physical health. In a review of the existing research, the urban green space to promote public health, the improvement of human welfare puts forward three Suggestions: 1) in the urban planning, the city as a comprehensive social ecosystem, the urban green space planning and design should pay attention to provide ecosystem services and create a social network, in order to improve the social and environmental justice; 2) Urban planning should consider residents' preferences for different green Spaces to create a more pleasant living environment; 3) Improve the coverage of urban green infrastructure and expand the ecological network.

Edited by David Naguib Pellow and Robert J. Brulle Cambridge, MA:MIT Press, 2005. 339 pp. ISBN: 0-262-16233-4, $25 Over the past 18 years, hundreds of books have been published on the environmental justice movement (EJM); however, this is one of the first books to initiate a comprehensive dialogue that critiques strategies, tactics, and discursive frames; examine issues of organizational structure, governance, and resource base; assess goals and outcomes; and pose questions challenging academics and activists to consider where the movement has been and where it may go. The EJM—which emerged in the late 1980s from struggles within communities of color and low-income communities that have been disproportionately affected by pollution—is characterized by editors Pellow, an activist–scholar who has published widely on EJ, and Brulle, an associate professor of environmental policy, as “a political response to the deterioration of the conditions of everyday life as society reinforces existing social inequities while exceeding the limits to growth. Thus the EJM laid a foundation for environmental and social justice politics in the twenty-first century.” The heart and strength of these essays by academics, EJ practitioners, and advocates is the challenge to engage foundational concepts of the EJM that most serious observers and activists have been loath publicly to address. Yet 15 years since the historic first People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, one reads this assessment and analysis and wonders why it has taken so long to begin this important inquiry. The editors’ opening chapter succinctly summarizes literature on inequality, social justice movements, and environmental degradation, and presents provocative conclusions. Although Pellow and Brulle note that the EJM has affected the direction of environmental policy, research, and activism and that the EJM has had its “clearest victories” leading local community struggles, they question whether the EJM has achieved its goals and conclude that the “outlook is not positive.” They issue a challenge, echoed by the authors, to the EJM to “complement its well-honed acumen for opposition to unsustainable projects to a concrete vision and plan of action for construction and protection of sustainable communities”—a challenge that is being met by many EJ organizations. The collection, targeted to scholars, theorists, practitioners, and activists, has three sections. In the first, “Environmental Quality and Justice: Progress or Retreat?” Bryant and Hockman compare the Civil Rights and EJ movements. Some chapters break the chain of synergy and some authors’ conclusions contradict others, but Benford’s “Half-Life of the Environmental Justice Frame: Innovation, Diffusion, and Stagnation” complements other authors in this book with his provocative argument that the “EJ frame suffers from stagnation as a result of its diffuse conceptualization, the many issues it seeks to address, the subordination of environmentalism to human justice, and its failure to embrace and articulate revolutionary solutions.” His argument needs more research and documentation to bolster his conclusion that the EJM’s “power lies in its capacity to disrupt the system rather than to reform it.” Section 2, “New Strategies for Achieving Environmental Justice,” focuses on energy activism, sustainable and just food systems, case studies of collaborative problem solving, and research findings that the governance structure of EJ groups does not reflect its democracy frame. Brown offers lay-driven efforts to reframe social conceptions of health through the asthma/air quality paradigm, and Targ argues for a state-level comprehensive approach to EJ to address issues and approaches across agency jurisdictions. Pena urges that the EJM advance “exploration of autonomy”—self-governance of environmental management in local places—versus the struggle against “toxic racism and its rampant inequalities of place and power.” The third section, “Environmental Justice and the Challenge of Globalization,” highlights South African perspectives, global activism initiatives, and the contrast between the goal of environmental sustainability, management of natural resources, and that of the EJM, human justice, wherein the natural environment is important only “inasmuch as it can be seen in terms of human justice.” Brulle and Pellow conclude by advising EJ scholars to balance documentation of problems with a solution orientation, provide a stronger class analysis, and heed more of the links between EJ research and the literature on social movements. They warn EJ activists that forging a national agenda could deprioritize grassroots base building and that the divide between mainstream environmental groups and the EJM must be addressed more productively. They advise EJ groups to build a greater indigenous base of financial support and to appeal to a broader base of the population by addressing its race-based focus to be more inclusive of class, gender, working-class whites, and nation inequalities. This book asks serious questions that have been raised by the EJM itself and continue to challenge its activists. Although this collection can be fascinating, there are some facile recommendations and observations made without sound basis. Nevertheless, this book is a vital addition to the literature, and it catalyzes a critical dialogue on our environmental future.