Climate change is a crisis that unfolds differently for communities along the lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other aspects of identity. How can we create the climate futures we want by placing marginalized communities at the center? What role does justice play in that process? I explore diverse youth climate activism, the Sunrise movement, Movement Generation, climate strikers and others, paying particular attention to anti-racist, anti-capitalist, justice-centered approaches. I also think through how emotional and mental health support can effectively be centered in an intersectional climate justice approach. In the end, I argue for creatively drawing on science, art, and racial justice movements as blueprints for imagining and creating hopeful, just climate futures.
Dr. Jade Sasser is an associate professor in the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies at UC Riverside. Her work explores how environmental problems such as climate change and toxic exposures intersect with race and gender—specifically, women of color’s bodies, health, rights, and reproductive justice. Author of, On Infertile Ground: Population Control and Women’s Rights in the Era of Climate Change, published in 2018 by NYU Press.
This talk was offered as a part of the 2022 Resonance summit and is a part of the recording package and a bonus offering for those enrolled in the full 2022 Climate and Resonance Series
