Speaking for Ourselves

Environmental justice as a concept has evolved over the past two decades to offer new, challenging directions for social movements, public policy, and public planning. Researchers worldwide now position social equity as a building block for sustainability. Yet the relationship between social equity and the environmental aspects of sustainability has been little considered in Canada, particularly in studies and discussions focused primarily on the environment.

Speaking for Ourselves draws together scholars and activists - Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, established and new - who bring equity issues to the forefront by considering environmental justice in specifically Canadian cases and contexts and from a variety of perspectives, including those of First Nations and women. The contributors expand notions of justice and the concepts involved in environmental justice beyond their European origins and limits to demonstrate new ways of working toward environmental sustainability and social justice.

This innovative, engaging collection gives a voice to multiple perspectives on environmental justice and its construction in Canada. As the first major examination of the multidimensionality of environmental equity and injustice, it will appeal to scholars across a wide range of disciplines in the social and environmental sciences and to activists and citizens who want to make Canadian society more just and sustainable.