ABSTRACT
Sense of place, human territoriality and therapeutic landscapes are but a few of the concepts developed by humanists to understand the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between people and their environments, particularly the emotive connections. As this literature continues to grow a new lens on sense of place is environmental justice (EJ). Spurred by civil and minority rights movements that began in the 1960s in the United States, communities have mobilised to protect their homes and neighbourhoods from the inimical (perceived or real) effects of “environmental bads” such as waste incinerators and hazardous landfills. Mobilisation is inherently tied to sense of place and is expressed as territorial defence within EJ as communities who face threats to the quality of their environments and their health mobilise. To understand this new lens on sense of place this chapter will first outline the history of EJ mobilisation. Two case studies, one of EJ in sustainable planning in San Francisco and the other of grassroots mobilising in New Mexico, are then used to illustrate the connections between sense of place and EJ activism. But first we overview the conceptual basis of environmental justice, particularly as it flowered in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.
