"It's In the Air"

Redefining the Environment as a New Metaphor for Old Social Justice Struggles

Bibliographic Data

ID18984225
AuthorsMelissa Checker (New York University, corresponding author), Melissa A Checker
Year2002
Volume61
Issue1
Pages94-106
Publication date2002-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Organization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7259 • E-ISSN: 1938-3517
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.17730/humo.61.1.10dwpu3mqj1c8guw
OpenAlexW2045599804
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Recently, minority activists have formed a new grassroots movement, known as environmental justice, to address toxic waste in their neighborhoods. By comparing and contrasting two environmental justice groups, this paper explores how adapting environmental discourse to traditional struggles for social justice affected grassroots minority activism. As they came to view their air, water, and soil as another aspect of life subject to institutional discrimination, the activists described in this paper constructed ambiguous environmental narratives that served as contexts for multiple organizing strategies. These strategies were not limited to ecological concerns, but included the social justice issues that each group had historically prioritized. In addition, the ambiguity of the environmental narratives activists created facilitated alliances with new organizational partners. Although the specific needs, goals, and outcomes of each case differed, both examples illustrate how

Ambiguity · Criminology · Economic Justice · Environmental ethics · Environmental justice · Grassroots · Metaphor · Narrative · Political science · Social justice · Social movement · Sociology · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities · Law · Rhetoric and Communication Studies