Dialogue framework for climate justice: bridging social and environmental justice

Research demonstrates that we are in a climate crisis, yet socially and politically we aren’t convinced. Environmental justice research shows that the climate emergency is not experienced equally. Climate disruption disproportionately harms communities of color, low-income communities and women and children. These disconnects signal not only an ecosystemic crisis, but also social and political crises. Scholarship shows that dialogue can transform understanding and motivate engagement to challenge systemic oppression. This paper introduces a Climate Justice Dialogue Framework that connects systemic drivers (racism, patriarchy, environmental exploitation and anthropocentrism) to uneven burdens and individual practices. It asks whether a combined anti-racist and climate justice framework can support participants in discussing, reflecting on and resisting the systems that drive both racism and climate destabilization. Findings from this exploratory research suggest the framework can support participants in discussing, reflecting on and considering ways to resist the systems that drive racism and climate destabilization through two context-dependent pathways. Among participants less familiar with the topics, the framework facilitated questioning, sense-making and learning. Among those more familiar with these issues, it facilitated information sharing, networking and reinforced commitment. Across the pilot sessions, participants also engaged sociological concepts and reasoning, suggesting the framework’s potential to strengthen sociological literacy.