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Loading... Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors (2014)by Carolyn Finney
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Carolyn Finney's work functions at the axis of critical race theory and environment studies, examining the relationship between black Americans and the natural environment, and how this relationship has been shaped and codified by racism, violence, class difference, and white privilege. This book raises some very important questions on how our culture views that relationship and also addresses the fears black Americans associate with the environment and the advances that black Americans have contributed to environmental causes. The book focuses on a number of different topics to demonstrate the problematic and tenuous bond between race and environment: slave labor, the association between wilderness and lynching, lack of diversity in visitors to and employees of national parks, racist depictions of black people related to tropes of "wildness," and the racial underpinnings of government and media reactions to Hurricane Katrina. All the arguments this text makes are valid and, even more, crucial. However, the book seems slightly unfocused and spread too thin. In an effort to paint a comprehensive picture and tackle all possible avenues related to this mostly unexplored intersection the book lacks an argumentative and theoretical depth. Hopefully, this is only the beginning and Finney continues to contribute more scholarship regarding these issues, as it is badly needed. ( ) no reviews | add a review
"Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns. "-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)304.2089Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Factors affecting social behavior Human ecologyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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