Margins and Mainstreams
American Studies and the Environmental and Climate Justice Movements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21798136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julie Sze (University of California, Davis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Transatlantica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1765-2766 • E-ISSN: 1765-2766 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/transatlantica.20452 |
| OpenAlex | W4311787363 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
about the role of race and racism in what constitutes "America." Written in the swirl of public contentiousness over identity politics and multiculturalism, the book argued that core national values and ideals stemmed from the margins of US communities, specifically from politically and racially disenfranchised communities. He suggested that it is through the struggles for equality by African Americans, Native peoples, Latinos, and Asians as immigrants and refugees, and by those sexually marginalized, that the United States gradually moves toward the Founders' values and visions of democracy and freedom. This argument resonated deeply with me as an undergraduate in the early 1990s. Much of what we now call "MAGA" politics ("Make America Great Again") and Trumpism was led by currents that emerged in California around then, especially through the proposition system that shaped public policy through viciously racist incarceration, anti-immigration, and anti-affirmative action proposals that all passed (Hosang). At the same time, these same currents generated incredible organizing cultures which forced students and people to choose political sides and stances. I was also impacted by place (in addition to time); UC Berkeley was (and remains) an important place for Ethnic Studies. The campus was a hotbed of emergent scholarship and activism in environmental justice that have since gained empirical validation within academia and some policy purchase. This piece is a personal and scholarly reflection on how environmental justice has moved from the margins to the center of the field of American Studies, and how that has affected pedagogy, particularly in the classroom
Aesthetics · Climate change · Climate justice · Environmental ethics · Environmental justice · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Political science · American Environmental and Regional History · Environmental Science · Law · Philosophy · Geology · Oceanography
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |