Abstract
As environmental crises are systemic, intersectional, and extreme, this thesis frames corresponding action as a necessary and appropriate response. Using semi-structured interviews with people who identified as having engaged in radical environmental justice (EJ) activism, this study explores the following two research questions: the types of environmental actions and attitudes these activists report engaging in, and the types of factors and experiences they report as inhibiting and encouraging those actions and attitudes. This information might help unearth actions and policies that can help prompt, sustain, and protect engagement in radical EJ activism, which is here defined as activism that addresses environmental issues “at the root”1 and is systemic, intersectional, and extreme. While some research investigates factors associated with environmental activism, there is almost no research on the factors associated with radical EJ activism specifically. Participants in this study cited several internal factors, such as environmental knowledge (particularly about environmental issues and activism strategies), emotions (particularly anticipatory and moral), and several personality and practice-based traits that influence their engagement in radical EJ activism. More commonly and consistently, participants cited situational factors, in particular, direct experiences with nature, its destruction, and its protection, social support and a lack thereof, burnout (including time, energy/emotional, financial, and employment costs of activism), and institutional backlash and cooptation as influencing their activism. Participants also shared tips for prompting and sustaining radical EJ activism, including tips on how to palatably present radical ideas, mitigate organizational conflict, and make space for a diversity of tactics within the movement.
Advisor
Laura Harrison
Committee Member
Yalda Hamidi
Committee Member
Paul Prew
Date of Degree
2024
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Program of Study
Gender & Women's Studies
Department
History and Gender Studies
College
Humanities and Social Sciences
Recommended Citation
Corey-Gruenes, Ava. (2024). Prompting and Protecting Radical Environmental Justice Activism [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1444/
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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