Go to main content
Formats
Format
BibTeX
MARCXML
TextMARC
MARC
DataCite
DublinCore
EndNote
NLM
RefWorks
RIS

Files

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand Black womens relationship to land and their perspectives on access to land and land ownership as an environmental justice concern. The research questions for this study were as follows: a) What do the stories of Black women living in the Southeast United States tell us about their relationship to land?; b) What do the stories tell us about how Black women living in the Southeastern US conceptualize land in an environmental justice paradigm?; c) How do Black women construct spirituality in their relationship to land? Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with six Black women living in the Southeastern United States who work in the field of land-based development. In the context of an ecowomanist methodology, the women of this study shared powerful ecostories in which three major themes emerged from the data. The first theme was freedom and bondage in a parallel-paradoxical relationship the women described having with land. This study also found land loss and community displacement emerged as an issue that impacts Black womens relationship to land. The final theme that wove through the womens ecostories was spirit manifested through ecological and human interconnectedness. Three major conclusions from this study were: a) Black women living in the Southeastern United States have an intricate relationship to land that is intergenerational and informed both by cultural experiences and historical oppressions; b) The womens perspectives about access to land and landownership were shaped by the abuse of power and control of land that were rooted in historical discriminations; and c) Black women in the Southeastern United States constructed spirituality in their relationship to land as multidimensional and as grounded in African Cosmologies.

Details

PDF

Statistics

from
to
Export
Download Full History