Anthropology Environmental Justice
by
E. Christian Wells
  • LAST MODIFIED: 07 January 2025
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766567-0305

Introduction

The unfolding global environmental crises ushered in by late industrialism—from contamination to climate change—pose grave threats to human and environmental health, and yet not everyone shares these burdens and risks equally. An extensive body of scholarship on “health disparities” and “environmental inequalities” has emerged since the 1980s that demonstrates unequivocally how people of color, Indigenous and tribal communities, and other marginalized groups are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollutants and contaminants and suffer the consequences of these conditions for their health and well-being. These conditions exist as an integral and deeply embedded component of structural racism, as expressed and experienced through, for example, residential segregation and the social determinants of health. Following on the successful tactics deployed in the US civil rights movement in the 1950s-1960s, including coalition building, community empowerment, litigation, and other forms of nonviolent direct action, scholars and activists have leveraged these practices to demand that everyone, regardless of race or class, has a right to the same environmental protections and meaningful involvement in shaping environmental policies in their communities. This process is often referred to as “environmental justice” and has evolved over the past half century to integrate both a social movement and a scholarly mode of inquiry. For many, this merger has catalyzed new forms of “liberation science” that leverage community-based, participatory approaches to advance health equity by emancipating people from toxic environments. While the environmental justice movement started in the United States, it has grown to become a global, postcolonial effort aimed at advancing the wellbeing of Black, Indigenous, and People of the Global Majority (BIPGM) including disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups, Indigenous peoples, and those living in poverty. Since 2008, the journal Environmental Justice has provided a key source of scholarship for the field.

General Overviews

Environmental justice scholarship is highly interdisciplinary, and includes research in both the social (sociology, anthropology, geography) and natural (public health, environmental engineering) sciences. As a result, there are many and diverse introductions to the field that provide reviews and overviews from multiple perspectives. Comprehensive, introductory, book-length texts include Adamson, et al. 2002 and Walker 2012, with Holifield, et al. 2018 representing the most recent and thorough synthesis. Standalone ethnographies Bullard 2000 and Taylor 2014 have become hallmarks of the discipline. Introductory, article-length reviews are provided in Brulle and Pellow 2006, Holifield 2001, and Mohai, et al. 2009. Morello-Frosch and Lopez 2006 emphasizes the legacies of residential racial segregation and Sze and London 2008 expands the discourse to include issues of sustainability and climate justice.

  • Adamson, Joni, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachael Stein, eds. 2002. The environmental justice reader: Politics, poetics, pedagogy. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

    This collection of papers highlights environmental justice issues through a unique assortment of interviews, testimonies, and personal stories that explore public policy, fiction and nonfiction literature, and education and teaching practice. It would make an excellent course reader for an undergraduate-level class.

  • Brulle, Robert J., and David N. Pellow. 2006. Environmental justice: Human health and environmental inequalities. Annual Review of Public Health 27:103−124.

    DOI: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102124

    This annual review provides a broad introduction to environmental justice through the lens of public health. It includes a brief section on the theories behind environmental inequalities and the impacts the movement has had in the United States.

  • Bullard, Robert D. 2000. Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality. 3d ed. New York: Routledge.

    This volume is often considered the classic environmental justice text. Now in its third edition, this beautifully written and engaging volume traces the social, economic, and psychological impacts on five African American communities from the siting of hazardous waste facilities. It also explores the early stages of the environmental justice movement and the intractable barriers to justice faced by underserved communities.

  • Holifield, Ryan. 2001. Defining environmental justice and environmental racism. Urban Geography 22.1: 78–90.

    DOI: 10.2747/0272-3638.22.1.78

    This review article discusses different understandings of environmental justice and environmental racism and their political implications. It also reviews recent trends in environmental justice research and how the adoption of the concept by governmental agencies has implications for future studies, especially in urban settings.

  • Holifield, Ryan, Jayajit Chakraborty, and Gordon Walker, eds. 2018. The Routledge handbook of environmental justice. London: Routledge.

    The wide-ranging chapters in this edited volume feature critical reviews and substantive analyses of key topics and debates in environmental justice from an interdisciplinary and global perspective. They address theories, methods, and case studies and give ample attention to activism, organizing, and local knowledge.

  • Mohai, Paul, David Pellow, and J. Timmons Roberts. 2009. Environmental justice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 34:405−430.

    DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-082508-094348

    This review article examines the debate surrounding unequal distribution of environmental risks by race and class, focusing on the quantitative evidence for environmental injustice. The authors also discuss the globalization of environmental justice and policy implications.

  • Morello-Frosch, Rachel, and Russ Lopez. 2006. The Riskscape and the color line: Examining the role of segregation in environmental health disparities. Environmental Research 102.2: 181−196.

    DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2006.05.007

    This important article explores how residential racial segregation leads to environmental justice challenges, focusing on pollution and health outcome relationships and other environmental health disparities including ambient air pollution. The authors conclude with research and policy implications for understanding the legacies of segregation.

  • Sze, Julie, and Jonathan London. 2008. Environmental justice at the crossroads. Sociology Compass 2.4: 1331−1354.

    DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00131.x

    This paper examines the history and current trajectory of environmental justice scholarship from a sociological perspective. It highlights three key trends including the mechanisms and processes of environmental justice, the changing role of the state, and the relationship between scholarship and activism.

  • Taylor, Dorceta E. 2014. Toxic communities: Environmental racism, industrial pollution, and residential mobility. New York: New York University Press.

    Written by one of the most well-known environmental justice advocates, this book provides a deep history of the movement and the important theoretical issues that frame current scholarship. Drawing on a diverse array of case studies from across the United States, Taylor considers the legacies of residential segregation and zoning on human and environmental health.

  • Walker, Gordon. 2012. Environmental justice: Concepts, evidence and politics. London: Routledge.

    DOI: 10.4324/9780203610671

    This introductory volume provides a broad overview of environmental justice and delves into the complexities surrounding controversies in air pollution, flooding, hazardous waste, and other key issues. The book takes a global perspective with examples from the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries and covers emerging themes from gentrification to climate justice.

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