“Our Bodies, Our Land, Our Choice, Our Voice” Environmental Justice And Reproductive Rights: The Fight For Bodily Autonomy Through Coalition Politics

Abstract

In this paper, I will establish a brief history of the modern environmental justice movement in the United States, then I will connect environmental justice to ecofeminism and the women’s reproductive rights movement through the commonality of the prioritization of bodily autonomy, exemplified by the anti-toxics movement. I will then do a brief literature review of coalition politics, then I will argue that both the environmental justice movement and the women’s health/reproductive rights movement must embrace coalition politics in order to form problem-focused coping strategies and engage outside of their preexisting bases. My first case study will explore the impacts of ambient fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) on Latina women’s health in California, the most heavily air-polluted state in the U.S., while identifying historic oppressive means to disenfranchise community Californians who don’t speak fluent English. My second case study will explore the long-term ramifications of the uranium extraction in and exploitation of the Navajo Nation, and how it has negatively affected Navajo women’s reproductive health, along with their tribal roles and social positions within the community. I will then conclude by drawing both case studies back into the core argument of moving towards sharing a common ground in bodily autonomy and a common methodology in coalition politics, while exploring ways of implementing coalition politics strategies in the grassroots collaborative environmental justice and women’s health movement.