Environmental justice in the American south: an analysis of black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida
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Environmental justice in the American south: an analysis of black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida Anne Saville1 · Alison E. Adams2 Accepted: 27 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Research has established that the burdens of externalities associated with industrial production are disproportionately borne by socially and politically vulnerable groups, and this is particularly true for farmworkers who are at high risk for environmental exposures and illnesses. The impacts of these risks are often compounded by farmworker communities’ social vulnerability. Yet, less is known about how the intersection of race, class, and gender can position some farmworkers to be at higher risk for particular types of oppressions. We extend the literature by analyzing the case of Black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida, which was historically home to a large agricultural community. Drawing on the concept of critical environmental justice, we investigate the lived experiences of these women in the context of racialized, gendered, and economic oppressions during their time working on the farms. We use the case of Apopka to ask: (a) how the policies and socio-historical context of the agricultural industry in the American South contributed to injustices experienced by Black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida; and (b) how race, gender, and class intersected and intersect to create and legitimize environmental injustices in the workplace for these farmworkers. Our data include semi-structured in-depth interviews, newspaper and media coverage, and archival materials. Our analysis advances work on critical environmental justice and intersectionality by mapping the relationship between structural and environmental intersectional oppressions for Black women farmworkers. Keywords Intersectional theory · Critical environmental justice · Agriculture · Pesticide exposure · Farmworkers
Introduction Extant research has established that the burdens of negative externalities associated with industrial production are disproportionately borne by socially and politically vulnerable groups (Brulle and Pellow 2006; Ducre 2018; Pellow 2016; Schlosberg 2012; Thomas and Hughes 1986; Walker 2010; Wilson and Taub 2011). This is particularly true for farmworker communities, which often include workers of color, migrant families, and workers of varying documentation * Anne Saville [email protected] Alison E. Adams [email protected] 1
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Flagler College, 74 King Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 357 Newins‑Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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status. Of particular importance is the relationship between social positionality – or, the location of race, class, gender and other factors – in explaining the unique forms of oppressions that farmworkers can face. This issue has consequences in the broader socio-political context as farmworkers are an especially high-risk group for environmental exposures an
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