Michelle Garvey
Leveraging Affect for Climate Justice
About the author
Michelle Garvey, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary scholar-activist who educates through community-engaged projects that channel student labor into environmental, food, climate, and water justice movements. She teaches environmental justice at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and organizes for K-12 climate justice curriculum, zero waste, resilience hubs, Rights of the Mississippi River, urban farming, and Green New Deals.
Chapter summary
This activity explores climate justice methods and places to intervene in systems of injustice. By applying distinctive and creative actions toward movements like Land Back, Green New Deal, or divestment, students evade doomism and despair while making measurable contributions to climate justice.
Excerpts from the chapter
“action is a salve for climate despair, and education is ‘stickier’—more memorable and meaningful—when approached experientially.”
“At a personal level, you are invited to bring your whole self to your learning. At a systemic level, you are shown how to ‘plug in’ to achieve systems change in ways that resonate with your unique skills and insights.”
Examples of student projects
Students’ public teach-in on the Inflation Reduction Act. Image courtesy of Michelle Garvey (2023).
Dr. Garvey’s teaching methods
“Environmental Justice Narratives: Personal Stories from the Field” by Jothsna Harris and Dr. Michelle Garvey for Climate Generation (2022).
“Toward ‘Resistance and Re-visioning’: Exploring the Integration of Community Partnerships and Decolonial Field Methods” by Dr. Christopher Rabe (2023).
Related links
Interviews with Dr. Garvey:
EJ Storytelling Project (Link to download this file): Interviews by Eden Lim with Jothsna Harris for University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment (2023).
“Dr. Michelle Garvey: Advocating for EJ and Intersectionality” by Renee Nicholson and Anneke Stracks for Macalester College’s Environmental Justice Pressbook.
Resourcing the Revolution: Environmental Justice Flowcharts for Climates of Inequality (2020).
Students restore forest and farmlands at Wild Path Collective, Osceola WI. Image by Michelle Garvey (2021).
Related resource
Climate Justice Instructional Toolkit by the Environmental Solutions Initiative at MIT.
Contact details
To inquire about booking Dr. Garvey for speaking and consulting opportunities on climate justice and/or community-engaged, place-based learning, please write to michellejgarvey@gmail.com.