Environmental Justice at Western

The Seed of Change

Each quarter, a group of students, faculty, and staff at WWU convene an environmental justice reading group to read and discuss recent texts. This quarter (Spring 2019) the group is reading Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy. The following entry reflects the group’s discussion last week. The Seed of…

Mending Relationships for a Viable Future

Bodies & Burdens

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. Bodies & Burdens By: Rebecca Williams Narratives of health in our society all too often pin the responsibility of disease on the person experiencing it: cancer, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety,…

Interconnectedness

Paying the Price

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. Paying the Price By: Rebecca Williams This spring is the sixth anniversary of the deadliest textile manufacturing incident in history: on April 24, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a building that…

Deer in the Headlights Syndrome

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. Deer in the Headlights Syndrome By: Amy Fitkin You know the feeling. Sitting in class after your professor asks a question, thinking you know the answer but are not…

Toxins, Chemicals, Pollutants, OH MY!

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. Toxins, Chemicals, Pollutants, OH MY! By: Amy Fitkin Picture this: You’re walking down the picturesque boardwalk of Newport Beach in sunny and beautiful Southern California. Sunglasses are on, and your…

The Subjectivity of Freedom

Plastic Straws and Beyond: Able-Bodied Environmentalists Educating Ourselves About Eco-[Dis]Ableism

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. Plastic Straws and Beyond: Able-Bodied Environmentalists Educating Ourselves About Eco-[Dis]Ableism Sarah Rose Olson In 2012 Flo, a blogger under the handle Disabledmedic coined the term “EcoDisablism” (Flo, 2012; Cabat, 2017)….

American Environmentalism: Washing Away the White Men

This quarter, graduate students enrolled in ENVS 597: Power, Privilege, and the Environment are writing short responses emerging from readings and/or discussions in class. American Environmentalism: Washing Away the White Men By: Andy Basabe Critically analyzing America’s environmental history from the 1800’s to today can be challenging. Critical analysis challenges oneself to deconstruct environmental…