Power, Justice, and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement

Abstract

Review: Power, Justice, and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement By David Naguib Pellow and Robert J. Brulle (Eds.) Reviewed by Byron Anderson Northern Illinois University, USA Pellow, David Naguib and Brulle, Robert J. (Eds.). Power, Justice, and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2005. x, 339 pp. ISBN: 0-262-66193-4 (paper); US$25.00; ISBN: 0-262-16233-4 (hardcover); US$62.00. Printed on recycled paper. The Environmental Justice Movement (EJM) grew out of the civil rights movement and was joined in the 1970s by a variety of social justice movements. The movement is a political response to social inequalities, undertaken by communities of poor, white and nonwhite working class people, who often experience the worst consequences of environmental degradation. “Environmental justice” looks at the natural environment in terms of social inequity, for example, the high incidence of asthma in low- income areas that is linked to environmental pollutants. The main goal of the EJM is for “communities marginalized by race, ethnicity and poverty to gain political power to effectively protect their health and defend and manage their territories and resources” (p. 265). As such, the movement is as much about social justice as ecology, and the objectives of social justice movements are not always compatible with environmental sustainability. Sustainability can be difficult to achieve in areas of poverty, racial discrimination, high population growth, and systems of weak governance. It is at the local community level that the EJM has had it greatest successes. Warren County, North Carolina, is considered to have been the site of the first environmental justice mobilization in 1982. The disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a landfill located in a predominantly black community generated a protest. While the protest failed, it served to raise consciousness. The movement has grown to cover a wide range of issues, including food quality, health, indigenous land rights, and toxic disposal sites, and has laid a foundation for environmental and social justice politics in the twenty-first century. The EJM’s multi-issue focuses, involving different ethnic and racial communities and a multitude of social and environmental movements, risks diffusing the movement’s effectiveness. Yet few have looked at the movement critically to find out what has and has not worked. The book’s