Discussion Questions and Exercises
The Soul of Environmentalism: Rediscovering Transformational Politics in the 21st Century —Michel Gelobter, et al.
Discussion Questions 1. In The Soul of Environmentalism, the authors compare a statement made about poetry (“poetry is dead”) to a suggestion made about the state of the environmental movement (“the death of environmentalism”). What point were the authors getting at about environmentalism? How were both the poetry and environmental movements undergoing exercises in omission when these comments were made? 2. The Soul of Environmentalism includes many different terms pertaining to the environmental movement: social justice, environmental justice, sustainability. What do these terms mean to you? How are they similar to each other? How are they different? Is your work, school, or community connected to any or all of these movements? How? 3. How is environmental justice different from environmental conservation? 4. Why do race and class matter in the environmental movement? In what ways do you think communities of color and lowincome communities are affected by environmental issues? 5. What do the authors mean when they write of drawing a “new frame for a bigger environmental movement?” How does this bigger movement connect people and nature? 6. How is the Environmental Justice Movement rooted in the Civil Rights Movement? What brought about the emergence of the Environmental Justice Movement in the 1980s? How does it differ from previous environmental movements? 7. How can the environmental justice movement offer a route to broaden and diversify traditional environmental groups’ bases, while gaining access to more resources? Do you think it’s important to do this? Why or why not? 8. The authors compare the problems facing environmentalism today to those faced by the Civil Rights Movement. What similarities do you see? What can we learn from the successes and failures of the Civil Rights Movement? How can we apply these lessons to the current environmental movement? 9. Soul of Environmentalism links the privatization of nature with bans on gay marriage. Give an example of other social and environmental issues that are connected. 10. “Americans have a schizophrenic relationship to communitarian values.” What do the authors mean by this? Why is it important to foster community in our efforts to “fight the big fight?”
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Exercises 1. The authors suggest we “find alternative definitions of wealth in the future.” Write up an alternative definition or two. Do they incorporate both the value of nature and people? 2. Draw up your own “big fight” table (see page 10). Use either the “fights” provided on page 10, or come up with your own. Then pull out the environmental and social connections – do you have many? Use these connections as a springboard for thinking about how you might forge new alliances and collaborations in your work. How can you use these connections to rethink strategies for addressing common concerns? 3. Refer to the Re-framing Environmentalism table on page 14. Do you see any strategies your organization could use in rethinking how to achieve your goals? Create your own table. Use this table to begin thinking about new alliances your organization could form across environmental/social lines that would propel it towards its goal or vision. Remember, your potential collaborator’s overall mission may differ from your organizations. While your organization’s goal may be to end global warming, collaborating with an organization whose goal is to foster economic development can provide a unique way to accomplish both.
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