Environmental justice and climate justice

The environmental justice movement was born when a new vocabulary emerged. It created not only a new discourse for amplifying grassroots voices but also a compelling critique of how the “environment” was misunderstood without a robust notion of justice. Twenty years later, climate justice was articulated by transnational grassroots advocates. This chapter revisits the story of origin for the environmental justice movement when key issues of “environment” and “racism” became linked in the public imaginary. Next, it turns to the environmental justice critique of the environmental movement and a redefinition of “environment”. Then it summarizes the institutionalization of environmental justice. Finally, it returns to the emergence of climate justice, including contemporary reluctance among some to center justice as a key issue. Beyond defining significant terms, events, and figures, this chapter develops three claims. First, rhetorical neologisms were foundational to the environmental justice movement. Second, while institutionalization of a social movement can lead to termination, in the case of environmental justice, it provided an opportunity for a reaffirmation and reinvention. Third, “justice” continues to transform and be resisted by environmental movements.