ENV 351 - Environmental Social Movements

This course traces how and why environmentalism emerged, particularly in the U.S., and how social movements for environmental protection have changed over time with different social and political-economic contexts. Highlighted are the frequently overlooked histories of environmental activism from people of color, immigrants, workers and labor unions, people in the Global South, and Indigenous communities. The course examines core questions about social movements and social change: How do people perceive socio-environmental problems? Why do people take and sustain political action? What strategies are successful and why does change happen? This course focuses on relationships between marginalized communities and those in power - the state, corporations and scientific experts - as well as dynamics of power and privilege between environmental organizations. Case studies of environmental movements will range from early conservation activism in the 1900s through contemporary protests around climate change and fossil fuels.

Satisfies a depth and breadth course in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Sociology major.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.