Environmental Justice at Western

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

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 Subjectivity…

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…

Accessibility: Shifting Power into the Hands of the Oppressed

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. Accessibility: Shifting Power into the Hands of the Oppressed by Ali Burdick It’s no secret that the United States has relied on nonrenewable energy sources and toxic waste treatments…

Deletion, Disappearance, Disregard: The “Veiling” of White Supremacy that Works to Excuse Naive Privilege

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. Deletion, Disappearance, Disregard: The “Veiling” of White Supremacy that Works to Excuse Naive Privilege by Ali Burdick One of the biggest challenges I have come to face as…

Liberté, égalité, fraternité: Differences between the idea and the reality

Outdoor (spaces), (places), and (faces)

Outdoor (spaces) (places) and (faces) By: Jessica Ibes April 8th, 2019 Environmental (in) justice, where does it appear? What form does it take? On December 6th in Fall Quarter 2018, Dr. Carolyn Finney helped answer that question. Speaking to over 400 people, Dr. Finney told the story about Ten Thousand Recollections: Black Faces, White…