The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND AMERICAN CITIES

Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy

Date/Time:  Monday, April 20, 4-5:50pm
Location: 6 East 16th Street, Room 1106

Faculty: Ana Baptista

This course is based on the fundamental premise that all individuals and communities have the right to a clean and healthy environment. With this as a starting point, we will first define "What is environmental justice?" Then we will turn to more difficult questions such as: Why and through what political, social and economic processes are some people denied a clean and safe environment? What are the social relations of production and power that contribute to these outcomes? And finally we will consider the most critical question: What can be done to correct these inequalities? This course will focus on a critical exploration of the origins of and solutions to environmental injustice in urban America. Emphasis will be placed on the public policy, planning and community based solutions to the problems associated with environmental injustice.