Environmental Justice Pedagogies in the Borderlands: Counternarrativity as Decolonization

• In Event: Coyotes Will Howl: Narratives of Colonized Places, People, and Eco-Ethical Inquiries for Justice

Abstract

Nearly half a million people live along the U.S. side of the Texas/Mexico border in small, unincorporated, rural communities called colonias, many lacking basic municipal services, including inequitable access to safe drinking water. Dominant models of research have further colonized residents by theoretical frameworks that do not reflect residents’ conceptions of self or surroundings. Using a holistic, indigenous approach and counter-narrative as a methodology, this work seeks to reconceptualize environmental education in the borderlands, suggesting place-based, culturally-centered pedagogies as a means toward environmental justice.

Author

• Marissa Munoz, The University of British Columbia