Introducing Environmental Justice to Technical Students through Contemporary Eco-narratives

Abstract

In the era when climate change, global warming, and biodiversity loss have become common knowledge, it is also becoming evident that socially marginalized communities are the most affected by said events. As we strive to raise environmental awareness and advocate sustainable living to young students, we must also take into account how structural inequalities along the lines of class, caste, gender, and ethnicity are closely related to and exacerbated by environmental degradation. The Environmental Justice (EJ) paradigm diversifies environmentalism by questioning what it might mean to different people depending on their socio-economic locations. This paper will show how applying the EJ framework to contemporary ecology-oriented literature or eco-narratives can familiarize technical students with aspects of social justice in environmental contexts. Bringing to the forefront narratives of planetary and ecological subalterns will emphasize the socio-political roots of environmental injustices and bridge the gap between grassroots activism and the classroom.