Reflections from a Green Office Scholar: Inequality Within Sustainability
Conversations regarding sustainability have increasingly focused on the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and for good reason. Centering the most marginalized groups and communities in discussions about the environment is critical to addressing issues in ways that benefit the people most directly affected. People on the margins of society, such as the Global South, indigenous people, people of color, low-income communities, women and marginalized genders, and disabled people are the first to suffer from environmental and social issues. Due to the structures of society, marginalization is felt economically, socially, and even environmentally, requiring addressing these issues to prioritize those most dramatically and directly affected. Groups at Franklin such as the DEI Committee and Green Office are working to ensure that this intersectional approach is taken, as our community includes students with a diverse range of backgrounds, identities, and nationalities.
In order to more fully understand the intersectional nature of sustainability, it is critical to understand the intersection of environmental and social dynamics. For example, indigenous communities have typically been on the frontlines of not only facing environmental destruction but resisting it. Holding historic connections to the land and having long-used practices to restore and protect the environment, indigenous people have been leaders of climate justice and environmental movements, as well as movements for indigenous sovereignty and racial justice. Historic oppression has resulted in long-standing struggles for autonomy, equal rights, and the return of stolen land among indigenous groups, as they have resisted state violence from North and South America to Oceania from the beginning of colonization to today.
Another way environmental issues intersect with social ones is through forced displacement. In some cases, communities are displaced by governments and private industry to build infrastructure, including fossil fuel infrastructure. If not displaced, people living in areas with fossil fuel infrastructure, which are typically low-income communities of color, who lack the means to resist such projects or move elsewhere, are subject to worsening environmental conditions and health effects. This connects the environment to housing security and health, which are crucial to one’s success.
Frequent claims of the necessity of such polluting industries, however, claim working-class communities are reliant on them while also forcing employees to work and live in poor and even dangerous conditions. Labor and environmental issues have historically been painted as at odds, but the intersection between these two issues demonstrates the deeply ingrained connection between the environment, economy, and society.
In addition, displacement takes place because of unplanned events as well, through the increasing occurrence of environmental crises becoming causes of migration. Climate refugees have increased as climate change increases the frequency and severity of natural disasters, forcing people to cross borders and move away from stability, leaving homes and jobs behind in the wake of disasters. In this way, climate change causes economic instability and racial tensions to worsen. The Green Office is working to address these severe effects of climate change by introducing the Climate Disaster Resource List on campus, in which students and faculty are encouraged to share resources regarding how to help communities facing natural disasters and others can use those resources to donate or find other ways to support those affected.
Economic and social issues are, in themselves, aspects of sustainability, which spread far beyond simply environmentalism. Poverty and inequality remain prominent, both within countries and across the globe. Between 600 and 700 million people worldwide are projected to be living in poverty, according to the United Nations, whose first Sustainable Development Goal is eradicating poverty. Alongside poverty comes a multitude of interconnected struggles, from education, food, housing, and health, which are all represented in the Sustainable Development Goals. There are several classes at Franklin that use the SDGs as teaching material, constructing coursework around them, such as SJS100 (Introduction to Social Justice and Sustainability) and COM283 (Strategic Communications). Professor Alessandro Martinisi, who teaches COM283, discussed the importance of teaching the SDGs in Communications, a field likely not the first to come to mind in this discussion:
“By integrating the understanding of SDGs into their education, these students can play a pivotal role in raising awareness and driving positive change. Media professionals are not just observers; they are the conduits through which information and messages are disseminated to the masses. By equipping them with knowledge about SDGs, we empower them to report on global issues such as climate change, poverty, gender equality, and more, fostering a sense of responsibility and accountability in their reporting… Teaching SDGs encourages them to approach the world issues with a more sustainable and ethical mindset. In essence, incorporating SDGs into the curriculum for media and communication students is an investment in a future where media content creation and communication contribute meaningfully to a more equitable, sustainable, and informed global society.”
Wealthy nations remain far richer than poorer ones, which creates lasting impacts on the economic prospects of citizens. There is a clear correlation interaction between the Global North and South when it comes to economic power. Internally, a great divide between the wealthiest and the poorest within a country persists, solidifying conditions of poverty for many even within the richest countries in the world. The poorest are often those otherwise marginalized, as inequality is not only an economic concept. Gender bias, racism, and discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, and other traits remain universal. These intersecting forms of oppression are topics various student groups at Franklin work to address, with clubs such as United in Diversity, whose work was described by club president, Ghala Ashoor, as follows: “United in Diversity… celebrate[s] the importance of intersectionality, recognizing that it is at the crossroads of our unique identities and experiences where unity emerges. Through diversity, empathy, and understanding, we can help promote intersectionality on campus."
Discrimination has tangible effects beyond social ones, having implications for many other aspects of the lives of minorities and marginalized groups worldwide. A sustainable future leaves no one behind. Failing to recognize the inherent inequality in how these issues are felt, failing to address economic and social issues alongside environmental ones, and failing to prioritize the voices and needs of the most marginalized people among us are fatal flaws of past environmental movements- and not ones we can any longer afford to continue having.
By Jordan King
Green Office Scholar