A Bridge to Challenging Environmental Inequality: Intersectionality, Environmental Justice, and Disaster Vulnerability

Abstract

This article explores the origins and expansions of environmental justice and disaster vulnerability literature. It proposes an intersectional framework as a tool for bridging these fields of research—fields that have moved forward primarily on parallel, yet rarely overlapping paths. The article explores both practical and theoretical issues that stem from the lack of communication between environmental justice and disaster vulnerability literatures, positing that disaster vulnerabilities exist first as issues of environmental justice. This is followed by a discussion of interlocking systems of oppression, which is critical for understanding the root of inequality in both disaster and environmental justice contexts. Focusing on the environmental oppression that underlies these contexts provides a potential basis to merge and improve these literatures at a critical time of increasing rates of environmental risks and disasters. By utilizing an intersectional framework to merge these areas of research, it is possible to develop a more holistic understanding of environmental harms and disaster vulnerabilities, while encouraging more just and equitable planning, preparedness, response, and recovery activities.