Dissertation Research: Perceptions of Racial Inequality and the Social Construction of Environmental Justice

纽约大学一名文化人类学学生的论文研究项目涉及一项民族志研究，研究最近在佐治亚州奥古斯塔举行的一场争取环境正义的草根非裔美国人社会运动是如何利用主流环境运动的话语并将其重新定义为社会正义问题的。对于环境正义活动家来说，“权利”包括获得无毒的空气和水，以及住房、学校和工作场所，所有这些都没有种族和阶级歧视。通过参与式观察，对当地居民的调查，访谈和档案研究，学生将测试当地对种族歧视的看法在阶级或政治上占主导地位，作为环境污染的感知原因。因此，这个项目调查了民权运动对非洲裔美国人在这个具有代表性的南方社区的长期影响。它将通过展示言论和问题如何跨越社会界限，激发对环境问题的行动，增进我们对当代公民社会和基层运动的理解。

This dissertation research project by a cultural anthropology student at New York University involves an ethnographic study of how a recent grassroots African-American social movement for environmental justice in Augusta, Georgia has appropriated the discourse of the mainstream environmental movement and redefined it as issues of social justice. For environmental justice activists, `rights` includes access to toxin-free air and water as well as housing, schools and workplaces, all free of race and class discrimination. Through participant observation, a survey of local residents, interviews and archival research the student will test the proposition that local perceptions of racial discrimination are dominant over class or politics as perceived causes of environmental pollution. This project thus investigates the long-term impact of the civil rights movement on African Americans in this representative local Southern community. It will advance our understanding of contemporary civil society and grassroots movements by showing how rhetoric and issues flow across social lines to galvanize action on environmental issues.