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

这篇由纽约大学文化人类学专业的学生进行的论文研究项目涉及一项人种学研究，研究最近在佐治亚州奥古斯塔发起的一场草根非裔美国人环境正义社会运动如何挪用了主流环境运动的话语，并将其重新定义为社会正义问题。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，所有这些都不受种族和阶级歧视。通过参与观察、对当地居民的调查、访谈和档案研究，学生将检验这样一种命题，即当地对种族歧视的看法主导于阶级或政治，是环境污染的公认原因。因此，该项目调查民权运动对这一具有代表性的南方地方社区中的非裔美国人的长期影响。它将促进我们对当代公民社会和草根运动的理解，展示修辞和问题如何跨越社会界限，激励在环境问题上的行动。

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.