Power, Privilege and Participation: Meeting the Challenge of Equal Research Alliances
This article describes alliances between social justice organizations and academic researchers to defend their position that environmental racism does indeed exist.
Over the past decade a growing number of organizations engaged in
environmental justice struggles have recognized the need to bolster
their capacity to investigate links between environmental exposures and
health problems. In the face of the enormous scientific resources of
polluters (and in some cases government agencies), it is increasingly
difficult to make the claim that disproportionate environmental
exposures in communities of color are linked to racial disparities in
health. Corporations and government agencies, with the backing of
well-paid scientists, often claim there is no proof. Consequently, many
community-based organizations have been backed into a corner of having
to defend our position that environmental racism does indeed exist. As
a result, a growing number of these organizations are seeking to access
the resources of academic institutions to strengthen our struggles for
justice.
