Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Justice And Participatory Democracy: An Emancipatory Policy Proposal, Nancy Christine Gott

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Environmental Justice and Participatory Democracy: An Emancipatory Policy Proposal analyzes the public participation guidelines for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The author argues that four challenges must be addressed before the goal of environmental justice can be achieved. These challenges include the challenge of citizen participation, the epistemological challenge, the challenge of integrating public values with technical concerns, and the challenge of balancing environmental rights and responsibilities. The author develops a policy proposal for the creation of neighborhood environmental justice community centers in low-income neighborhoods.