Environmental Justice and Rural Contexts

In conversations surrounding environmental justice, rural lands and communities often get abused and disregarded. These areas are blessed with an abundance of resources but are inhabited by far fewer people than are their urban counterparts. For that reason, resources are often used at unsustainable rates in these areas and are then used as dumping sites for a variety of enterprises.

Given this information, rural settings may be a perfect lens through which to analyze the interplay of people, ecology, and justice in an environmentally unjust world. We have posted an article below, titled "Tyranny of the Majority and Rural Environmental Injustice", which we'd like you all to read before Thursday. The article aims to connect these three key players in relation to the experience of race and class within the rural context. The authors do so by evaluating the issue through the lens of de Tocqueville's concept of the Tyranny of the Majority, which they posit as an inherent weakness to majority rule. De Tocqueville's argument is that in these contexts, the majority pursues its own interests at the expense of the minority. But what does this mean for rural landscapes and people?

Please read the article and come to class next Thursday with 1 potential discussion prompt written on a small piece of paper, which we will put in a bowl to draw from. Mattie Lehman will be starting out our class time with a quick talk and then we will jump into small group and class-wide discussion.

Link to the Article

Questions and Thoughts from Class

• How do you define the word "rural"? Should we define this in broad or narrow terms?
• How do we encourage rural communities to care about air quality issues?
• This article points out a problem apparent in democracies where the rights of the minority are often overshadowed or ignored by the majority. Additionally, this bias is inherent in all laws and institutions withing the democracy. Is a new form of government needed? What rights must be guaranteed in order to achieve eco-justice?
• How would you personally define rural?
• What systems can be created to prevent rural targeting?
• What are some examples of rural communities "claiming their voice"? Is this more common or effective than outside assistance?
• How does rural pollution relate to company policies regarding dumping grounds and pollution regulation?
• How do rural and urban communities co-exist in the context of environmental justice?
• How can we find a balance between majority and minority?
• Is there a way we can all become part of the"majority"?
• Which solution to injustice is most effective? 1) more democratic and participatory governance; 2) dismantling capitalism; 3) more government regulation and authority given to the government.
• Do we need a new form of government or adjustment to our current form of government?