"I'd Become a Part of a System": Examining Intersectional Environmentalism in Literature for Young Readers

Autor/inn/en	Connors, Sean P.; Trites, Roberta Seelinger
Titel	"I'd Become a Part of a System": Examining Intersectional Environmentalism in Literature for Young Readers
Quelle	In: Journal of Children's Literature, 47 (2021) 1, S.73-83 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1521-7779
Schlagwörter	Conservation (Environment); Social Justice; Cultural Influences; Feminism; Ideology; Adolescent Literature; Fiction; Power Structure; Social Bias; Racial Bias; Gender Bias; Poverty; Minority Groups; Natural Resources; Ecology; Social Responsibility + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Conservation; Environment; Konservierung; Bewahung; Umwelt; Soziale Gerechtigkeit; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Feminismus; Ideologie; Adolescent; Adolescents; Literature; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; literatur; Fiktion; Racial discrimination; Rassismus; Geschlechterstereotyp; Armut; Ethnische Minderheit; Natural Ressource; Natürliche Ressource; Ökologie; Soziale Verantwortung
Abstract	The disproportionate impact of environmental degradation on First Nations peoples and on other communities of color is not new. Indigenous peoples, Black people, and other marginalized communities experience the consequences of environmental degradation disproportionately (Taylor, 2014; Washington, 2019), telling us that environmental justice and social justice are not unrelated topics. One way that educators can help students to understand how this is the case is by creating opportunities for them to examine literature that addresses environmental and conservation topics through a lens of intersectional environmentalism. In this article, the authors define intersectional environmentalism in terms of critical multicultural analysis and examine how this critical perspective builds on assumptions associated with ecofeminism, a branch of feminism that argues that the same ideology that authorizes environmental degradation is also behind the oppression of women, people of color, people experiencing poverty, and the Earth itself. In doing so, they identify three questions that together compose a critical framework for examining how texts for the young that address environmental and conservation topics depict the relationship between environmental justice and social justice. They next apply the framework to Eliot Schrefer's (2012) "Endangered," a work of fiction that is read by many middle-grade readers, to demonstrate how examining the text through a lens of intersectional environmentalism opens up new possibilities for understanding it. To conclude, they examine the implications for educators of asking students to critique literary texts from a perspective of intersectional environmentalism. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Children's Literature Assembly. e-mail: info@childrensliteratureassembly.org; Web site: https://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/journal.html
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01