(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Chan, Emily S.
In this paper, the environmental justice movement is introduced through a study of its historical context, and the structures of environmental, economic and social disparities in North America. The principles of environmental justice and its primary community organizing strategies are addressed to illustrate how environmental justice is alternative to mainstream environmentalism. Also discussed are some of the tensions and challenges within the environmental justice movement. Contrary to some arguments in published literature, I argue that the movement for environmental justice is not a branch of mainstream environmentalism, but a movement in its own right.