Voicing environmental justice: critical discourse analysis of a postcard survey to amplify marginalized voices surviving and coping with environmental threats

The spatiotemporal patterns of environmental degradation are heterogeneous and predicted by legacies of systemic injustice. The inclusion of local environmental knowledge found within historically marginalized communities is central to achieving environmental justice, yet prevailing methods of data collection and analysis often fail to recognize discourses that reject mainstream environmental knowledge. In this study, we describe methods and outcomes of a pop-up booth and balloting project in the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest, USA. We applied critical discourse analysis to data collected in public settings such as ethnic festivals, markets, and homeless meal sites. We asked adult respondents to provide their zip code and describe (1) important environmental challenges in their lives, and (2) coping or surviving these challenges. We critically analyzed discourses in 1051 responses from predominantly low-income zip codes in the region. Of the 144 responses that contested mainstream discourses on the environment, respondents identified racial, political, and social division as environmental threats and argued for the importance of addressing personal needs and human rights. We disseminated our findings through podcasts with local activists. Critical discourse analysis provided new insights into meaningful involvement of marginalized voices in environmental decision making and the criticality of addressing human needs and social justice through local knowledge.