| In this dissertation I examined ways in which the term "environmental justice" (EJ) was employed to legitimate or marginalize activities in the interest of promoting occupational and environmental health. Three scholarly papers were produced.; The first paper provided an overview of the EJ movement, critically discussed contemporary EJ theory, and suggested implications for nurses. Contributions from Native American struggles and labor, anti-toxics and civil rights movements provided the conceptual basis for three EJ dimensions relevant to nurses; reconceptualizing the environment, integrating self-determination in health-related decisions, and appreciating the strength of social networks. Unlike the EJ movement, federal interpretations of EJ emphasize research versus action, minority and low income populations versus people of color, and environmental equity versus environmental racism. Implications for nurses are discussed in terms of practice, education and research.; The second and third papers report processes by which diverse participants (e.g. researchers, clinicians, community leaders, farmworkers, growers) work towards articulating and achieving EJ in one federally-funded Community-based Participatory Research project. Multiple methods were used to produce and collect text. Applied conversation and discourse analysis were used to analyze data. Project participants negotiated distributive, procedural, social and corrective justice dimensions of EJ. Organizational governance and management were further examined to explore areas of community and farmworker influence within project activities. Recommendations included creating one governance group which includes farmworkers, engaging in capacity building activities and providing education concurrent to conducting research.; The third paper examined "empowerment" discourses within the project. Participants shared different views as to how community empowerment can be actualized. Some suggested "empowerment" can occur via advocacy on behalf of farmworkers, others via increasing the political power of farmworkers to advocate on behalf of themselves. The latter approach was viewed by some as too threatening to the neutrality of the project to endorse. Future work is needed to examine how competing empowerment goals can be realized in coalitional models of academic and community partnerships. |
