Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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GPS 6119 - Environmental Justice


Cross-Listed As: GPS 4119

This course focuses on the uneven distribution of environmental degradation and environmental protection, considering the connection between environmental problems and race/ethnicity and class. We will focus on environmental justice/equity, social movements, health, policy, and risk to analyze the social processes which generate racism and class stratification that influence the distribution of ecological costs and benefits at the local, national and global levels. An analysis of inequalities in relation to the environment gives us insight into the complex social processes that define, create and even threaten our natural, social and built environments. This course provides a sociological perspective on environmental issues, investigating the relationships between various environmental and social problems and considering how political, social, and economic factors have come to shape our patterns of interaction. Throughout the course we will consider such issues as the siting of hazardous facilities in urban and rural minority areas, the extraction of resources from native lands, national and transnational export of toxic waste to the South, decision-making around health issues, and the development of a distinct environmental justice movement. During the course of the semester we will ask such questions as: What is environmental justice? What groups are most affected by environmental inequalities? What is the likelihood for change and a movement to a more sustainable future?

3 Hours Lecture
3 Credits



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