Marxist heritage has had a waxing and waning prevalence in the historical context of political anthropology. One of the most controversial thoughts in this area of study is that class struggle is one of the main causes for advancements of political systems (Gaido 2013). This paper is seeking how the increasing role of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) in the political realm is achieving a louder voice for the economically weaker classes through a case study of Warren County in the United States. Thus, as a result, as poorer communities are mobilizing they are successfully able to combat against adverse environmental issues that could not be achieved through the traditional state structure. In other words, the main question …show more content…
One of the main components of this ideology is environmental justice (EJ). This subject has arisen from the fact that the current social structures within politics shape and determine the health of the environment (Swyngedouw 2003). EJ, itself, is the fight for both civil and environmental rights for those who are marginalized in traditional political structures (Carruthers 2007). One of the key pillars of EJ is environmental racism (ER), where due to the race and socioeconomic status, a group of people are disproportionately dealt adverse environmental damages. It is thought that ER is the result of not-in-my-backyard(NIMBY) mentality, from which the wealthier populations have the monetary and thus political and legal power to push unwanted projects outside of their communities (McGurty 1997). This movement is an interesting component from an anthropological point of view, as it shows how the current organizational structure of political systems is resulting in burdens being unequally distributed. This relates to the two aforementioned Marxist components of the state as it shows: 1. How state power is being utilized to benefit only the wealthier elite rather than the entire population 2. And that consequently due to pressures from the EJ movement, the state has to spend money as a result to …show more content…
However, the battle of this case did not end there, and as a result Warren County is now viewed as the first successful case of the EJ movement (Emison 2010). A chain reaction of major events occurred: 1. The community saw an opportunity to team up with civil rights activists to fight for their cause of NIMBY-ism and environmental concern. 2. Powerful African-American Leaders and other community groups joined the fight through different ENGOs, legitimizing and empowering the opposition against this site. 3. The General Accounting Office conducted an investigation on the site in response to the ENGOs movements (Emison 2010; McGurty 2000). After a decade of mobilization, protests and legal action, the state began the decontamination process of the site in 1993. Due to the limitations of the legal system, the frame of ER had to rise through “unofficial channels of collective action” (McGurty 2000). While this case uses the frame of the state to make changes, the majority of the work to achieve the goals of the ENGOs was done outside of the political frame. Mobilization of people with similar missions allowed them to gain political clout and thus utilize the new power to shape policies from beyond the
Nydia Velazquez is a representative for New York’s Twelfth Congressional District, which includes parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. In her essay “In Search of Justice,” Velazquez describes several unjust situations that happened in her district. She points out that the residents of Greenpoint, which is the heart of her district, are among the poorest in the country. She argues that large corporations carelessly dump their waste next to poor minorities’ living areas and emphasizes the terrible air conditions in her district. Velazquez believes that minority communities are treated unfairly under the environmental law, which targets large corporations. It is clear that the lives of minorities and the lower class are not being valued enough. By only focusing on
“Terms such as environmental racism and environmental justice are used to express the interconnectedness of environmental health, socio-economic conditions and racialized discrimination (OSCE, 2011). This concept originates from the early 1980’s when community concerns about toxic
There are currently 150 million Afro-descendants in Latin America who make up nearly 30 percent of the region’s population (Congressional Research Service, 2005). Out of the fifteen Latin American nations that have recently adapted some sort of multicultural reform, only three give recognize Afro-Latino communities and give them the same rights as indigenous groups (Hooker, 2005). Indigenous groups are more successful than afro-descendent groups in gaining collective rights and development aid from international NGO’s. Collective rights important because are closely related to land rights and can become a tool to fight descrimination .I will attempt to uncover the causes for the discrepancy. This study relies heavily on ethnographic research on post-colonial ideas of race in Latin America and I will attempt to connect race and power structures in environmental decision-making by interviews with national decision-makers, NGO representatives and both black and indigenous communities .
I think this wholesale framing of environmental justice issues solely or primarily in terms of distribution is seriously problematic. Drawing on both ecofeminist insights concerning the inextricable interconnections between institutions of human oppression and the domination of the natural ...
One of such being the topic of environmental racism. A sometimes muddled phrase, environmental racism refers to policies and practices that discriminate against people of color (AJ+). A phenomenon evolved from colonialism, environmental racism promotes the reality that our planet and its inhabitants are disposable to the protection of the elite. An obvious example being the constant relocation of indigenous peoples in the American continent. Growing up hearing tales of my grandmother’s life on the Rosebud Lakota tribal lands of South Dakota, I have been instilled from a young age with a deep respect and understanding for the sacred bond between a tribe and its land. This precious land constantly suffers use and abuse by government and private institutions. If one attempts to climb the Vatican or even the Salt Lake City temple, law enforcement swiftly intervenes, yet tourists and outdoorsmen explore sacred lands of the indigenous natives every day of the summer for profit. That profit, monetary gain controls the actions of those with the power to protect communities of color. The pursuit of profit snuffs the importance of protecting equality in our capitalist driven country. The prospect of gaining revenue and resources seems to justify the uprooting or infecting of populations. Just last year, despite heavy pushback from the Sioux, my ancestral nation, the Dakota Access Pipeline runs just a half mile
Native Americans have suffered from one of America’s most profound ironies. The American Indians that held the lands of the Western Hemisphere for thousands of years have fallen victim to some of the worst environmental pollution. The degradation of their surrounding lands has either pushed them out of their homes, made their people sick, or more susceptible to disease. If toxic waste is being strategically placed near homes of Native Americans and other minority groups, then the government industry and military are committing a direct offense against environmental justice. Productions of capitalism and militarism are deteriorating the lands of American Indians and this ultimately is environmental racism.
Environmental racism has been an ongoing issue in the United States. This issue mainly affects communities of color, immigrants, and poor folks who live in urban areas and around public squalors. This creates an unsafe environment for low-income communities and there are hardly any resource to address these environmental destructions. Most poor communities are more than likely to experience pollution than anywhere else because of their social and class status. Due to this, it can determine their breathing and living condition. This builds the connection between race and environmental destruction because of the stigma of space that is attached to low-income areas. Even though environmental racism is more than the unloading of waste in poor areas, this paper focus more on this factor than other elements that correlate with environmental racism. In order to make space for toxic waste, society risks the safety and health of poor communities of color to ensure a capacity for industry to perpetuate environmental racism.
A student should remain in public school until he or she gets a high school diploma or GED because without either of them they won’t be able to get better job opportunities, go to college, and get a job with higher wages.
In this essay I am going to discuss whether or not Marxism and Fascism are still relevant to today 's political life. Marxism is, (according to American Heritage dictionary of the English language) The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which believes the idea of class struggle has an essential role in understanding society 's (allegedly) inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and completely classless society. Fascism according to the Oxford dictionary is, an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Racism is commonly thought of as an act that is synonymous with violence; however, one common form of racism, environmental racism, often takes place without people being aware the events are happening before detrimental activities have been put into action. In Melissa Checker’s book Polluted Promises, she relates that Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. coined the term environmental racism while stating that there is “deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste disposal and the siting of polluting industries” (Checker 14). This problem is important to discuss, as many groups of people around the United States continue to be impacted by these events every day. Such people include
Rudel, K. Thomas, J. Timmons Roberts and JoAnn Carmin. 2011. “Political Economy of the Environment.” Annual Review of Sociology 37: 221-238.
Changing the messaging of their argument to racial discrimination moved the focus from the polluting facility to the people who would be victimized by its presence. This communication method is further explored in the case of The Ancient Forest Rescue (AFR), a group of concerned, mostly white, young activists fighting against a mining operation in the heart of the San Luis Valley, a mostly Latino populated region. The AFR was against a toxic mining operation that would cause tremendous amounts of soil erosion, which would nearly destroy that area’s watershed. These activists were well intentioned, but local residents had to make them aware of the historical and cultural context of discriminatory environmentalism (Westra and Lawson 2001). The Chicano community needed a safe space for themselves in order to communicate about the cultural significance in preserving their land.
It is a melancholy object to those who travel through this great country to see isolated corners of this fair realm still devoted to protecting the environment. The wretched advocators of these ideals are frequently seen doling out petitions and begging at their neighbours’ doors to feed their obsession, which keeps them in the contemptible poverty that they so richly deserve.
Environmental racism is starting to get attention in the Florida legislature. Low-income; minority ; Blacks ; Hispanics / Latinos ; Asians ; Philippines ; Latin American ; factory owners ; people with money. Environmental racism is something that affects black minority and low-income people around the world. “The state of Florida needs to take at the factors that have caused this”. What this is is that the toxic waste the polluted Florida needs to be checked out.
Politics and many aspects of society today have been heavily influenced by political thinkers and scholars from ages before our time. Whether their ideas were implemented or avoided, society today has learned and grown from these influenced; there has been societal adaptions and changes with every success and failure. One important philosopher that is still widely talked about today is Karl Marx. His theories and ideas are still studies, discussed and utilized today. Some aspects of Marxism is relevant to modern day but there are still some major critiques to his opinions that prove there in inconsistencies with the relevance of Marxism. This is a result of his failure to predict how advanced and revolutionized society would be in modern day.