Class 20: Environmental Justice and Discrimination - Beaver Lake Cree Nation 2026

What is Anthropocentrism?

A human‑centric worldview that treats the environment as an externality and distributes environmental benefits unequally.

What are Environmental Movements (1970s)?

Grassroots political movements emerging from social, political, and economic upheaval that challenged the status quo.

Who are the founders of Environmental Sociology?

Riley Dunlap and William Catton, who established the field by integrating nature into sociological analysis.

What is the Human Exemptionalism Paradigm (HEP)?

The belief that humans are exempt from natural limits and that technological innovation ensures continuous progress.

What is the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)?

The view that human–environment relationships are reciprocal and constrained by ecological limits.

What is Environmental Justice?

The examination of how social groups differ in access to environmental resources, power, privilege, and opportunities.

What is Environmental Racism?

Racial discrimination in environmental policymaking, enforcement, siting of toxic facilities, and exclusion from environmental leadership.

What are Sacrifice Zones?

Communities disproportionately burdened with pollution, hazards, and health risks due to low political power and economic vulnerability.

What is significant about Warren County (PCBs)?

It is a predominantly Black community targeted for PCB dumping, which sparked major environmental justice activism.

What did the Houston Landfill Case demonstrate?

It showed that landfills and incinerators were disproportionately placed in Black neighbourhoods from the 1930s–1980s.

What is an example of Environmental Sacrifice in Canada?

The placement of landfills and incinerators in Black and Indigenous communities, such as Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

What is the Beaver Lake Cree Nation Lawsuit about?

Legal action against Canada and Alberta for failing to uphold Treaty 6 rights due to extensive industrial development.

How much of Beaver Lake Cree Nation land was industrialized by 2022?

88% of traditional territory was industrialized, with over 35,000 permits.

What is the concept of Slow Violence?

Environmental harm that is incremental, delayed, and unfolds across long temporal and spatial scales.

What is Bill C‑226 (Environmental Racism Act)?

Canada’s national strategy to assess, prevent, and address environmental racism, receiving Royal Assent in 2024.