4145 - Puerto Rico and Climate Justice: Exploring the Intersections of Scholarship and Activism

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

Global warming and struggles for climate justice raise serious questions about the role of sociologists and sociology. What responsibility do we have to local communities facing the brunt of climate change? What relationship should we have with climate justice activists and organizers? What contribution could we make to movements seeking a just transition away from the fossil fuel economy? This panel takes up these questions in the context of Puerto Rico, a non-sovereign island-nation in the Caribbean. In the fall of 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged the Puerto Rican archipelago and, in the months that followed, over one thousand people would die due to government negligence and the cumulative effects of over a century of U.S. colonialism and exploitation. The case of Puerto Rico, therefore, offers a site from which to think about sociology in relation to broader themes of climate (in)justice, austerity, resilience, and coloniality/decoloniality. Composed of scholar-activists, this panel reflects on actual and potential contributions that sociologists and sociology could make to help mitigate the effects of climate change in Puerto Rico and to support Puerto Ricans in their struggle for self-determination.

Sub Unit

• Special Session

Session Organizer

• Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Northwestern University

Presider

• Bianca Gonzalez-Sobrino, Quinnipiac University

Individual Presentations

• Failed Promises: Social Control, Inequality, and the Politics of Emergency Management in Puerto Rico - Jenniffer M. Santos-Hernandez, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras

• Unequal Regions: Transdisciplinary Responses to Disaster and Environmental Racism from La Isla - Ryan A. Mann-Hamilton, City University of New York-Laguardia Community College

• Fostering Environmental Activism through Community-based Water Quality Monitoring: Reflections from Puerto Rico - Alejandro Torres Abreu, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao; Juan Carlos Rivera, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao

• Self-determination from the Ground Up: Grassroots Projects and Visions for a Just Recovery in Puerto Rico - Ricardo Gabriel, City University of New York-Graduate Center