Sunday, September 25, 2016

"God and the Green Divide"

New from the University of California Press: God and the Green Divide: Religious Environmentalism in Black and White by Amanda J. Baugh.

About the book, from the publisher:
American environmentalism historically has been associated with the interests of white elites. Yet religious leaders in the twenty-first century have helped instill concern about the earth among groups diverse in religion, race, ethnicity, and class. How did that happen and what are the implications? Building on scholarship that provides theological and ethical resources to support the “greening” of religion, God and the Green Divide examines religious environmentalism as it actually happens in the daily lives of urban Americans. Baugh demonstrates how complex dynamics related to race, ethnicity, and class factor into decisions to “go green.” By carefully examining negotiations of racial and ethnic identities as central to the history of religious environmentalism, this work complicates assumptions that religious environmentalism is a direct expression of theology, ethics, or religious beliefs.
Amanda Baugh is Assistant Professor of Religion and Environment at California State University, Northridge.

--Marshal Zeringue