Activating Disruptive Power: Transformative Possibilities for Eco-Justice in Postsecondary Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Responding to trends in environmental education research, the EE SIG call for proposals, and the dire level of socio-ecological injustice, this session explores possibilities for eco-justice activism in education. The session expands existing work on activism in environmental education through a theoretical focus on “disruptive power,” a power that everyone has and can activate by locating their social interdependencies and refusing to cooperate within them. We analyze the potential for this kind of disruptive activism through four postsecondary ecojustice education cases, drawing from staff, student, and faculty perspectives. With the goal of increasing possibilities for environmental educators’ activism, we conclude the session with a workshop on identifying and mobilizing interdependent disruptive power.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Environmental Education

Chairs

• Nora Timmerman, Northern Arizona University

• Nina Porter, Northern Arizona University

Papers

• Student Families for Sustainable Communities: Reflecting on Our Resistance to University Gentrification - Nora Timmerman, Northern Arizona University; Julia Kathleen Ostertag, Self-employed

• Navigating a Fine Line Between Change and Multicultural Incorporation: Student Activism From Within the Neoliberal University - Jenne Schmidt, Colorado State University

• Action Research Action Research - Ramsey Affifi, University of Edinburgh

• The Disruptive Power of Student Faculty Collaborations - Nina Porter, Northern Arizona University

Discussant

• Frances Fox Piven, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)