Section Information
Section Description Provided by Instructor
This course will examine the Environmental Justice Movement, its origins, tenets, challenges, and strategies, focusing specifically on issues of environmental health addressed by the Movement, including disproportionate exposure to toxics, special problems related to the impact of industrial agriculture, and human health problems associated with pesticide use. The Environmental Justice Movement emerged in the late 1980s, as communities of color organized to oppose the disproportionate siting of toxic sources in their neighborhoods. The Movement offered a critique and alternative approaches to the "greens." At the same time, the movement for racial justice outside of the environmental justice context was struggling with new challenges in and out of the courtroom. What are the core tenets of the Movement? What environmental health issues has the Environmental Justice Movement tackled and how? What legal handles are available to address environmental injustice, and what are their limitations? What approaches have environmental justice activists taken to overcome these limitations and assert their own vision for their communities? What are the roles that lawyers can play - and what is the role of law - in redressing environmental injustice and opening pathways, political space, for community participation in decisions affecting the health and future of low-income communities of color and environmentally overburdened communities, more generally?
Grading: Your final grade will be based on (1) class participation, including generally discussion and your leadership of discussion on the assigned date (your discussion paper will be taken into account in this portion of the grade) (approximately 25%); (2) the mid-term memo (approximately 25%), and (3) the final project, including the complaint and the reflection paper (approximately 50%).
Semester
Spring 2013
Section
001
Schedule
T 6:20p - 8:10p
Location
WH 304
Points
2.0
Method of Evaluation
Paper
J.D. Writing Credit
No
Course Limitations
Pre-requisite Courses
None
Co-requisite Courses
None
Recommended Courses
Environmental Law
Other Limitations
None
Learning Outcome Goals
No learning outcome goals have been provided.
