Our Backyard: A Quest for Environmental Justice

Our Backyard: A Quest for Environmental Justice is a collection of essays by local activists and nationally recognized scholars that deal with the history, status and dilemmas of environmental justice. These essays provide a comprehensive overview of social and political aspects associated with environmental injustices in minority and poor communities. In addition to focusing on the actions taken by communities and politicians in response to an actual or perceived environmental risk, the book also deals with the methodological challenges confronting environmental justice research. The book also looks at the future of the environmental justice movement with a discussion of the sustainability of environmental justice in a more conservative political climate. Our Backyardraises important questions that will engender considerable debate about environmental justice. It will provide a solid platform for dialogue between activists and policymakers or between teachers and students.

This collection of essays by local activists and nationally recognized scholars deals with the history, status, and dilemmas of environmental justice. These essays provide a comprehensive overview of social and political aspects associated with environmental injustices in minority and poor communities. It will provide a solid platform for dialogue between activists and policymakers or between teachers and students.

Gerald R. Visgilio is professor of economics at Connecticut College and has spent nearly three decades teaching and working in the area of environmental and natural resource economics. Diana M. Whitelaw is assistant director of the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies at Connecticut College.