Environmental Justice Organizing in a Gentrifying Community: Navigating Dilemmas of Representation, Recruitment, and Issue Selection
Item
Title
Environmental Justice Organizing in a Gentrifying Community: Navigating Dilemmas of Representation, Recruitment, and Issue Selection
Loyola Faculty Contributor
Amy Krings
Link
List of Authors
Amy Krings, Colette Copic
Abstract
Environmental justice organizations aim to secure an equitable distribution of environmental resources through the participation and self-determination of affected people, particularly communities of color. Yet organizing in a market economy is complicated: As communities become greener, gentrification can follow, thereby inadvertently displacing low-income communities of color and reproducing environmental injustices. This study informs antiracist community practice methods by examining strategic and ethical dilemmas embedded within an environmental justice organization that is located in a gentrifying Mexican American neighborhood in Chicago. Drawing from interviews, we examine members’ perceptions relating to representation, recruitment, and issue selection. We reveal key considerations for community organizations and residents as they work to promote environmental equity without contributing to the marginalization or displacement of communities of color.
Date
November 24, 2020
Publication Title
Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services
Publisher
Sage
Identifier
10.1177/1044389420952247
Bibliographic Citation
Krings, A. & Copic, C. (2020). Environmental justice organizing in a gentrifying community: Navigating dilemmas of representation, recruitment, and issue selection. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389420952247