Environmental Justice, DEI, and Threats to Equity Work

Session Submission Type: Paper Session (90 minute)

Description

Environmental justice and other DEI-focused organizations are facing unprecedented threats. Funding has been stripped, and in some cases, their work has been delegitimized or even made illegal—for example, legislation that forbids the use of community-collected air quality data in decision-making processes. This call invites papers that examine these political and institutional challenges, as well as strategies for resistance and resilience. We welcome contributions that analyze how EJ and DEI organizations navigate shrinking support, legal and regulatory barriers, and attacks on community science, while also highlighting innovative practices, coalitions, and policy interventions that point toward more equitable futures.

Sub Unit

• Environmental Sociology Section / Environmental Justice, DEI, and Threats to Equity Work

Presider

• Alison Hope Alkon, University of California-Santa Cruz

Individual Presentations

• Climate Justice Movements: How effective for local, national and international negotiations - Abu Said Juel Miah, Loyola University Chicago

• Institutionalizing Energy Justice-Measuring Equity Commitments in the Design of the U.S. Solar for All Program - Chia-Hang Hsu, University of Florida

• Scaling Inequality: A Meso-Level Approach to Environmental Inequality and Justice - Sam L Castonguay, Michigan State University

• The Public University as a Just Transition Hub - Paul D. Almeida, University of California-Merced

• Tides of Change: Rethinking Environmental Justice on the Coast - Summer Marie Gray, University of California-Santa Barbara; José Castro-Sotomayor, CSU Channel Islands

Session Organizer

• Kerry Ard, Ohio State University