Beyond the Mainstream: Recognizing Environmental Inequalities

Environmental justice in France challenges the republic's universalist ideals by revealing how environmental benefits and burdens are unequally distributed along lines of race, class, geography, and colonial history. This chapter amplifies voices often marginalized in mainstream environmental discourse—residents of the banlieues breathing polluted air, Caribbean communities poisoned by pesticides, indigenous peoples protecting rainforests, and working-class families priced out of ecological transition.

Understanding French environmentalism requires confronting uncomfortable truths about who suffers most from ecological destruction and who has access to environmental decision-making. By centering diverse perspectives, we see how environmental issues intersect with social justice, revealing both the limitations of color-blind republicanism and possibilities for more inclusive environmental movements.