Living environmentalisms: coalition politics, social reproduction, and environmental justice

Abstract

This paper examines the intersectional, coalition politics forged by activists in US environmental justice and women's rights organisations. This coalitional politics articulates environmental and feminist concerns and rejects the limitations of a narrow-focused politics in favour of a more strategic, relational vision of social and environmental change. Framed by the Marxist-feminist concept of ‘social reproduction’, the analysis addresses the complex ways that globalised capitalism has transformed state and corporate responsibilities for social reproduction. The neoliberal policies of privatisation and deregulation have eroded the assurance of a liveable wage, affordable healthcare, decent education, breathable air, and clean water. Drawing on several examples from grassroots movements and community-based organisations, the essay discusses how diverse women activists conceptually link environmental justice and reproductive rights issues in their communities' struggles to sustain everyday life (or, to accomplish ‘social reproduction’). The innovative coalition politics of organisations such as Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice and the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Coalition are generating dynamic ‘living environmentalisms’ with enough political vision and community ‘groundedness’ to build broadly-based social–environmental collaborations that stand a chance at compelling people to take stronger action to curb problems as big as global warming.