Climate change is a social problem impacting both people and the planet. Like other social problems, climate change reveals a conflict in values. These conflicts of culture and worldview are deeply rooted in the practices of capitalism and colonialism perpetuated by Western worldviews and valuescolonialismbeen established through colonialism.
Sociologists and environmental activists use the theories and practices of environmental justice, critical environmental justice, and ecofeminism to make sense of why climate change is happening so rapidly. These theories also suggest effective opportunities for action. Youth, Indigenous people, and their supporters are leading the way with collective action for social justice.
As we look back at the Jordan Cove Energy Project, where we began this chapter, we now see how unexpected this victory is. To stop the energy company, local residents, ranchers, fishermen and women, Indigenous elders, youth, and everyday people like you and me had to come together. They had to promote a common vision of clean renewable energy and the projected costs and risks of a pipeline. They had to convince local and state government officials that the pipeline was not in the best interests of the people who lived in that area and the people who might benefit from cheap energy.
The stakes were high, and their victory was uncertain. Working together, they succeeded in protecting the piece of the planet they call home.
Essential Ideas
Learning Objective 1: Why is climate change a social problem as much as an environmental problem?
Climate change is a social problem first because the activities of humans are the major contributor to creating the climate crisis. Second, we see conflicts in values between colonialist capitalism and more sustainable ways of living. Third, we know that climate disasters and environmental challenges impact groups unequally based on their social location. Finally, solving the climate crisis requires changes in laws, policies, and practices throughout the world, interdependent solutions that create environmental justice.
Learning Objective 2: How does colonization contribute to the environmental crisis?
Colonization as a social and economic system extracts resources from the people and lands of colonized areas to contribute to the wealth and power of the colonizers. This extractive form of economics prioritizes making profits over sustainable care for people and land. This economic system is still at play today, even though few colonies are left in the world.
Learning Objective 3: How do differences in Indigenous and Western worldviews contribute to the climate crisis and offer opportunities for innovative solutions?
Indigenous culture and worldview values communities and relationships. The land is sacred and must be cared for. Western culture values the individual and profit. The land is a resource that can be used to make profit. Because Indigenous cultures choose practices that nourish the land for generations, they offer solutions for healing our earth.
Learning Objective 4: How can an understanding of the intersections between race, class, gender, and other social locations help explain the causes and consequences of climate change?
As we consider the climate crisis, we see environmental racism and gendered impacts of environmental issues. For example, poor women in Nigeria can’t farm like they used to, and their families are sick because of gas flaring. People who were poor and disproportionately Black couldn’t evacuate New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina because they didn’t have cars. Canadian farm families are already feeling the effects of climate change, and female farmers are picking up extra work. In all of these cases, social location matters to environmental justice.
Learning Objective 5: Are all human groups equally responsible for causing the climate crisis?
All human groups are not responsible equally for the climate crisis. One of the causes of the climate crisis is CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. In general, people from industrialized countries use more fossil fuels and produce more CO2. However, less industrialized countries have fewer resources to guard against the effects of climate change, so people in those countries are harmed more. That’s partially why global climate agreements include provisions for transferring technology and money from more developed countries to less developed countries (although those promises aren’t always honored).
Learning Objective 6: Are changes in individual behavior or collective action more important in supporting environmental social justice?
This is actually a trick question. Both individual agency and collective action are critical to ending the climate crisis. We need worldwide agreements like the Paris Agreement to set standards and targets for changing our collective behavior. We need feminists, youth, and Indigenous people to remind us how important this is with their social movements. And we need individual actions of recycling bottles, using less plastic, and being satisfied with less to solve the climate crisis. Environmental Justice is social justice for all of us.
