The Scope of Latino/a Environmental Studies

Abstract

This article surveys the development of Latino/a environmental studies over the past decade of research and activism. It addresses issues, concepts, and controversies in four major areas of research including (1) theories and concepts of environmental racism and environmental justice, (2) environmental history and ecological politics, (3) case studies of Latino/a environmental justice movements, and (4) the political ecology of sustainable development. It describes Latino/a contributions to the environmental justice discourse and presents an overview of studies of rural and urban-based social movements. The article identifies gaps in the literature and outlines areas for future research. There is a need for critical studies on the nature of the Latino/a environmental justice movement, on the spatiality of social life, the environmental history of groups other than Chicano/as, and the dialectics of globalization and re-localization.