Graduate Exit Seminar - Joelle K. Jenkins

Plan to join Joelle K. Jenkins's graduate exit seminar on August 12, 2024, at 2:00 pm via Zoom. Joelle will present, "How did we get here? Sustainability, Racism, and the Road Towards Liberation: Conceptualizing Near East Sides’ Black Residential Perceptions of Sustainability in Columbus, OH."

Abstract: Conventional efforts to advance sustainable development often emphasize the “economic” and “environmental” aspects rather than the socio-cultural implications of sustainability. Such approaches overlook how racially, and socioeconomically oppressed communities are disproportionally impacted and involved in sustainability decision-making. Given that the intended goal of sustainability is to make the world a better place for everyone and everything, including non-human animals and the natural world, socio-environmental justice must be the nexus used to connect the tenets of sustainability. This study explored how Black residents in the Near East Side neighborhood perceive the City of Columbus’ decision-making practices, whether those practices incorporate their lived experiences, how sustainability is conceptualized, and possibly connected to their lives. In doing so, just and transformational sustainability, racialized capitalism, and critical race theory are conceptual tools that guided this process. The findings indicate that the Near East Side’s Black residential population perceives major shortcomings in city decision-making practices, as many do not feel that their voices are taken seriously in such processes. Moreover, most participants understand that an improved quality of life for Black folks in their community, and those alike, is contingent on systemic change. Due to such perceptions, it is clear that the city’s decisions do not (heavily) incorporate their lived experiences. Given their lived experiences, many noted that sustainability is important to their lives because they believe it serves as a tool to build resilience, longevity, resourcefulness, and stability within their communities. Aside from the outliers, many of the participants believe that at the end of the day, sustainability has them and their needs in mind. Albeit this study seeks to assuage the wickedness of sustainability, the hope is also to shift how it is conceptualized and operationalized in higher education and society.

Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey B. Jacquet and Dr. Eric L. Toman