Toward critical environmental education: a standpoint analysis of race in the American environmental context

Abstract

In this article, I advocate for critical environmental education that is responsive to power inequities and use standpoint theory to help explain why environmental education has been slow to become race-conscious/responsive. Standpoint theory provides theoretical support for the multiplicity of stories and views surrounding the environment and environmental issues with respect to continuing racial divisions within the US. I argue that environmental perspectives of people of color in the US are sociohistorically situated and inattention to them has led to the growth of and tension between different paths in environmental movements within the US. I conclude with a consideration of implications and recommendations for the research and practice of environmental education.

Keywords:

• US environmental movement
• environmental justice
• race
• standpoint theory

Additional information

Notes on contributor

Sarah Riggs Stapleton is an Assistant Professor in Education Studies at the University of Oregon. She earned her PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Sarah uses critical and participatory methodologies to investigate social and environmental inequities, with a particular interest in food and schools.