SOC 262 : ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (SD)

In this course, we will examine environmental threats and inequities through a racial justice lens. To do so, we will trace the history, development, and intensification of environmental issues through some of the central theoretical frameworks of environmental sociology, and specifically, environmental racism. Then, we will explore some of the different environmental justice
movements that have arisen to address specific aspects of environmental threats in the US and abroad. Throughout the course, we will also develop a “green criminology” approach to better understand how facets of human-environmental interactions are framed as problematic by different actors in the criminal justice system, and we will practice critiquing activists’ suggestions for how to address environmental problems and crimes with an emphasis on achieving racial equity. Cross listed as CJ 222.