Dr. David Pellow – Struggles for Environmental Justice in Prisons and Jails

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester
 / 
07/14/2021

Struggles for Environmental Justice in Prisons and Jails

This conversation considers the origins and evolution of the movement for environmental justice as a grassroots demand for a bold vision of democracy that emphasizes the links among human health, racial justice, and ecological sustainability. Centering the focus on spaces of incarceration as sites of struggles for environmental justice (as well as climate and food justice) in the U.S., this conversation explores how we can offer new pathways toward transformative analysis and action.

Dr. David Pellow

Professor, UCSB

Dr. David N. Pellow is the Dehlsen Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he teaches courses on social change movements, environmental justice, human-animal conflicts, sustainability, and social inequality. He has published a number of works on environmental justice issues in communities of color in the U.S. and globally.

His books include: What is Critical Environmental Justice? (Polity Press, 2017); Keywords for Environmental Studies (editor, with Joni Adamson and William Gleason, New York University Press, 2016); Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement (University of Minnesota Press, 2014); The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden (with Lisa Sun-Hee Park, New York University Press, 2011); The Treadmill of Production: Injustice and Unsustainability in the Global Economy (with Kenneth Gould and Allan Schnaiberg, Paradigm Press, 2008); Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice (MIT Press, 2007); The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy (with Lisa Sun-Hee Park, New York University Press, 2002); Garbage Wars: The Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago (MIT Press, 2002); Urban Recycling and the Search for Sustainable Community Development (with Adam Weinberg and Allan Schnaiberg, Princeton University Press, 2000); Power, Justice, and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement (editor, with Robert J. Brulle, MIT Press, 2005); and Challenging the Chip: Labor Rights and Environmental Justice in the Global Electronics Industry (co-editor, with Ted Smith, David Sonnenfeld, and Leslie Byster, Temple University Press, 2006).

He has consulted for and served on the Boards of Directors of several community-based, national, and international organizations that are dedicated to improving the living and working environments for people of color, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and working-class communities, including the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, Community Environmental Council, Global Action Research Center, the Center for Urban Transformation, Greenpeace USA, International Rivers, Community Environmental Council, the Fund for Santa Barbara, the Prison Ecology Project. He earned his B.A. in Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1992. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University in 1998.


More Resources

Upcoming Salon Conversations

Image

Wendy Whitman – Evil Obsessions: Unraveling Our Fascination with Crime

Dec 13, 2023 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
The “true crime” phenomenon has never been more evident. From television series to books to documentaries, there seems to be a never-ending fascination with crime, specifically murder. Serial killers are a constant topic of conversation, whether in the news or in fictional shows and novels. In interview after interview, Wendy Whitman has been asked to explain this obsession.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Charles Feinstein – Addressing the Climate Emergency: Economic and Policy Options and Making Polluters Pay

Jan 17, 2024 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, with global consequences affecting the natural environment, basic livelihoods, and nearly every sector of human activity. The interview will briefly review the current scientific understandings that define climate change as a critical threat.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

Petra Beumer – Sweetness of Doing Nothing – Learning from the Italians

Jan 31, 2024 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
What does it take to get off the hamster wheel, unplug from external stressors (and the addictive world of social media), and “come home” to oneself? Simply being and living in the moment is a lost art, as is sitting in a circle and telling stories.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk
Image

DannieL Fuchs: Thriving Together: The Revolution of Multi-Generational Living

Feb 28, 2024 04:00 PM in Pacific Time
Explore the dynamic world of multi-generational living with Danniel Fuchs, a seasoned executive who transformed into a fervent advocate for shared family homes. Dive into the profound life experiences that shaped his understanding and appreciation for this unique living model.
Speaker bio & Register for this talk