56 | New Scientist | 1 February 2020
The back pages Q&A
We can’t separate social inequality
from environmental issues, says
Julie Sze, and building a sustainable
future will require us to fully
understand that factExplain your work in one easy paragraph.
I am a professor of American studies, and in 2006
co-founded the Environmental Justice Project at
the University of California, Davis, to address
environmental and social inequalities in the
Central Valley region of California. My work is
motivated by my anger that racism structures life in
the US (and around the world, of course) and that
environmental destruction continues unabated.What is environmental justice?
Environmental justice originated in the US in the
1990s, and essentially says that environmental
resources and problems should be shared equally
between everyone. One of the central ideas is that
environmental and social problems are linked.Why is it needed in the Central Valley?
This region is not the progressive, coastal California
that most people are familiar with. The Central
Valley is a highly polluted and socially stratified
landscape. California has 2 per cent of US farmland,
but uses 25 per cent of the country’s pesticides,
and many of these pesticides are applied by air.
Small agricultural communities have suffered
from pesticide poisoning because of this. Tens of
thousands of people lack access to running water,
and many more lack access to clean water. In short,
it is a landscape defined by environmental and
social injustices. It is also the site of some of the
most creative and committed environmental-
justice organising and research.What’s the most exciting thing you’ve
worked on in your career?
I’m most proud of founding the Environmental
Justice Project. This is student-led, and many
of our projects have spun on to research done
in collaboration with social-movement
organisations intended for policy impact.“ My work is
motivated by
my anger at
racism and
environmental
destruction
continuing
unabated”
GETTY IMAGESHow did you end up working in this field?
I was a campus activist, then worked for an
environmental justice organisation in New York
City in the 1990s. I remember seeing presentations
where activists and researchers were showing the
clear links between health outcomes and racial/class
demographics. The case of lead contamination of
drinking water in Flint, Michigan, is one modern
example. In some neighbourhoods in New York City,
25 per cent of black children have asthma, compared
with the general rate of about 7 per cent in the city.How has your field of study changed in
the time you have been working in it?
The students I teach are more racially and class
diverse than when I started my career. They are
already aware of environmental injustices in a
broader, more general way.What’s the best piece of advice
anyone ever gave you?
Don’t get attached to doing your work in a particular
way or institutional location. Also, don’t measure
your value by the metrics of your institution.If you could have a conversation with any
scientist, living or dead, who would it be?
Marie Curie, because I find her life story fascinating.Do you have an unexpected hobby, and
if so, please will you tell us about it?
I walk dogs from the local shelter because
they need time out, and I can’t get one for
family reasons, sadly.What’s the best thing you’ve read or seen
in the past 12 months?
The movie Sorry to Bother You, directed by Boots
Riley, in which a black telemarketer adopts a
“white” voice, is stunningly original and radical.The title of your new book describes a
“moment of danger”. What does this mean?
We are in a moment of xenophobia and inaction
on climate change, among other things. I think the
relentless drumbeat of terrible news, environmental
and otherwise, puts the public into a state of apathy
and depression. So the book is for people who are
looking for some hope in apocalyptic times.What scientific development do
you hope to see in your lifetime?
Something revolutionary in energy
would be awesome. ❚Julie Sze is professor of American studies at the
University of California, Davis. Her new book is
Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger
(University of California Press)