The Struggle For Ecological Democracy: Environmental Justice Movements In The United States (Democracy and Ecology) - Softcover

"This collection of twelve articles provides a provocative profile of the environmental justice movement throughout the United States. These prominent contributors have produced a compelling narrative of how environmental injustice affects people of color and low-income groups. It reveals the questionable practice of market forces and how they impact human and nonhuman life. It chronicles culture, race and class issues and the critical role of women and their contribution to the movement. People are making a difference. It urges and supports the democratic participation of a broad spectrum of groups interested in making communities safe, nurturing, productive and just. This book is of utmost importance, and should be read by everybody who is concerned about these issues." --Bunyan Bryant, School of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan "This important book is essential reading for people who want to understand both the root causes of the U.S. environmental crisis, and the vigorous leadership of those fighting for environmental justice." --Joshua Karliner, TRAC--Transnational Resource & Action Center Corporate Watch, San Francisco, CA "Faber's anthology successfully documents the ecological injustice of capitalism....a critical contribution to the environmental justice literature." --"Environmental Ethics" "In developing its analysis of the environmental justice movement, the text's strength lies in the range and form of contributions-- theoretical exposition sits comfortably with interviews with leading environmental justice activists. This makes for a varied and enjoyable collection....For anyone who is unfamiliar with the theory and practice of the environmental justice movement, this collection offers a stimulating introduction to the territory." -"-Environmental Politics" "Excellent....Faber's own contributions enable the reader to understand not only the political dynamics that led to the environmental justice movement, but the wider framework of global capitalist development....The anti-capitalist politics of" The Struggle for Ecological Democracy" stem not from some atavistic attachment to an outmoded vocabulary of political radicalism, but are a clear-headed response to the facts about who is actually determining the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe." --"The Boston Book Review"

Corporate America increasingly relies on environmentally unsustainable forms of production, and not all Americans bear their costs equally. People of colour are 47 per cent more likely than whites to live near a hazardous waste facility. Fifty seven per cent of whites live in areas with poor air quality, compared to 80 per cent of Hispanics. Nationwide, nearly a thousand farm workers die of pesticide poisoning each year. Illuminating manifold connections between the exploitation of nature and the exploitation of vulnerable communities, a new wave of grass-roots environmentalism is building in the United States. Groups that have traditionally been at the periphery of mainstream environmentalism - poor people, working people, and people of colour - are fusing the fight for a healthy environment with historical struggles for civil rights and social justice. This text should be of interest to anyone who holds out the hope for lasting solutions to America's social and ecological crises.