Event Date
Are you seeking to improve your skills and knowledge based to be a better collaborator or partner when working with communities impacted by environmental injustice? This talk will provide an overview of tangible steps you can take to be more cognizant of the role of history, the importance of localized context, and how to address ever-present power dynamics. At the core, this talk will discuss how feminist approaches and feminist values can create a strong foundation for trust-building and finding mutually beneficial solutions.
Environmental Justice is a feminist issue. Women and caregivers, particularly women of color, have long been leaders in the environmental justice movement. Their experience, wisdom, and demands for better conditions have often been overlooked or denigrated in favor of "feasible" policy measures, unenforceable recommendations, or further studies of environmental harms. Community mistrust in institutions is well-earned, given histories of neglect and mistreatment.
Redressing these histories requires openness and humility. It also requires understanding how community expertise have been systematically undermined. This talk will introduce the concept of knowledge justice and discuss feminist approaches to working with communities made to bear the brunt of collectively-created pollution. Central to these feminist approaches is an ethic of care, attending to relations, and finding connection. Working with this knowledge and approach can further shared goals of improving environmental conditions.