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This essay combines the experiences and participation of women's studies members from four campuses in New Orleans, Louisiana. It reflects both on the damage suffered by women in the academy and the strides that have been made in the post-Katrina environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All too often environmental justice is excluded from considerations of social justice. Recently, however, scholars have attempted to place it squarely in the center of that debate. Our study examines the question of environmental activism in the context of social justice. We are concerned with why individuals who are environmentally burdened are less than politically active and, further, if political inactivism does not itself explain why people of color in New Orleans communities continue to be targets of environmental racism. In a survey conducted by a small group of students, one hundred and twenty-two persons were interviewed with a view to determining variance in environmental activism among ordinary citizens in New Orleans. Two variables predicted activism: residency status and perception of personal threat. Overall, the data explained 32% of the variance in environmental activism and facilitated general policy recommendations. In a related study, another student group found that the more politically inactive African-Americans were, the greater the likelihood that they would reside in environmentally hazardous communities. Since both samples included a majority of African-Americans across different class lines, they offer interesting insight into perceptions of social justice as a race neutral ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]