Launching The Environmental Justice Book Club
Welcome to The Environmental Justice Book Club! Whether you’re deep into unlearning and relearning, or just starting out, we’re glad you’re here. This book club is a welcoming space to explore powerful books, share perspectives, and have meaningful conversations as we all work to become more inclusive, informed environmentalists.
What’s it all about?
Intersectionality looks at how different forms of discrimination - like racism, sexism, classism, ableism - overlap and affect people’s lives in complex ways, particularly those of marginalised individual and groups.
Intersectional Environmentalism is an inclusive approach that connects social justice with environmentalism. It says we can’t protect the planet without also standing up for people, especially those who are often left out of mainstream environmental movements. This means embracing the full story of environmental history, including all cultural contributions to sustainability.
What to Expect
Books Every 6 Weeks
We know life is busy, so we’ll read one book every 6 weeks. We’ll focus mostly on thoughtful nonfiction (but not dense academic texts) and occasionally dive into some creative fiction. Books will explore how race, gender, class, ability, sexuality, age, and religion intersect with environmental issues.
To kick things off, we’re starting with The Intersectional Environmentalist by Leah Thomas. After that, you can help choose what we read - members can add to and vote from our growing collection of powerful reads.
In-Person & Online Discussions
We’ll meet in person at ECCI (Wednesdays, 16:00–17:30) at the end of each 6-week cycle. The ECCI team will guide the conversation with questions, but we hope to keep things open and informal - everyone’s thoughts are welcome.
Our first meeting is on Wednesday 30th July from 16:00-17:30 in The Pod at ECCI.
Can’t make the meeting? No worries. We’ve set up a Teams channel where you can join the read-along online. For each book we’ll also post discussion questions and reflections on the ECCI blog, so you can follow along at your own pace.
No Pressure to Finish
Read the whole book, a few chapters, or just show up to listen, whatever works for you. We’re here to learn and grow together, not to stress.
A Supportive, Inclusive Community
This isn’t just a book club, it’s a community. The book club is open to all staff and students in The School of Geosciences and other community groups associated with the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute. We’re here to connect, challenge ourselves, and enjoy learning through reading together to make our environmentalism as a community and individuals more inclusive.
How to Get the Book
To avoid adding to the UK’s 200,000 new books published each year, we encourage borrowing or buying second-hand when possible.
Our book choices are often available through:
- University of Edinburgh Library
- Libby for online copies
- Edinburgh Council Libraries
- Second-hand sites like World of Books
- If you do buy a first-hand copy, please consider supporting one of the many incredible independent bookshops in Scotland!
Don’t have the time or resources to get a copy? Thanks to support from Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, we’ve got funding available to purchase a small number of copies of each book to loan out to members. Email izi.robe@ed.ac.uk to arrange to borrow one.
Finished your book? Donate it! We’ll be contributing to the existing network of Little Libraries around the University and city to keep these powerful stories moving.