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Black faces, white spaces : reimagining the relationship of African Americans to the great outdoors / Carolyn Finney.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, 2014Description: xviii, 173 pages ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 1469614480
  • 9781469614489
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • E185.86 .F525 2014
Other classification:
  • NAT010000 | SOC015000
  • D771.262
Online resources:
Contents:
Bamboozled -- Jungle fever -- Forty acres and a mule -- Black faces -- It's not easy being green -- The sanctified church: how sweet it is.
Summary: "Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns."--
List(s) this item appears in: Garden of Ideas | Garden of Cultural Diversity
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Lending Books Elisabeth C. Miller Library Tall Shelves SB468.5.A2 F56 2014 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 39352800172850
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Bamboozled -- Jungle fever -- Forty acres and a mule -- Black faces -- It's not easy being green -- The sanctified church: how sweet it is.

"Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns."--

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