PHIL 250B ST: Environmental Justice
A healthy environment underlies many things we find important, such as human rights and quality of life, but environmental goods have been unfairly distributed, burdening vulnerable people with pollution, environmental hazards, and climate harms. This is a course in civically engaged philosophy, applied to the environment, drawing from knowledge and methodologies in philosophy, political and economic theory, environmental studies and sciences, and social justice movements. It examines the ethical foundations of environmental activism, in multiple ways, addressing multiple scales, such as environmental problems affecting minority and low-income communities, and local, state, tribal and federal governments, and future generations. What do people deserve from their environment, and what duties do we have to provide a healthy environment for others? What roles do power, race and ethnicity, gender, and class play? How is social change possible, for example, through community organizing, awareness raising, socially responsible individual behavior, volunteering and direct service, protests and demonstrations, and formal political activities?