Maroonage: A Framework for Environmental Justice and Racial Freedom

Authors

• Ryan Whyte

Abstract

Environmental hazards cause significant harm across society, with certain communities bearing the brunt of these burdens. In response, environmental advocates formed the environmental justice movement to promote equal environmental treatment for all. Closely related to this concept of environmental justice is environmental racism, which focuses on how people of color are disproportionately affected by environmental risks. While efforts to address environmental justice and racism have led to some successes, they have not fully addressed the persistent challenges affecting communities of color.

This Note seeks to apply a maroonage framework to address environmental racism and achieve environmental and racial justice for people of color. This framework draws on the concept of Maroonage, which refers to the practices of the Maroons, a group of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas, who escaped captivity and created their own free societies by establishing independent settlements, with descendants still living today. Using the Maroons’ relationship to their environment and land as a model for environmental and racial liberation, this Note argues that this framework is an effective pathway to achieving racial and environmental justice for people of color today. Part I of this Note outlines who the Maroons are, presents case studies of maroonage in Jamaica, Brazil, and Colombia, and explains how maroonage functions as a theoretical framework. Part II applies the maroonage framework to the environmental justice fight in the United States, using contemporary examples to demonstrate that maroonage can be an effective tool in advancing both environmental and racial justice.

Recommended Citation

Ryan Whyte, Maroonage: A Framework for Environmental Justice and Racial Freedom, 37 Fordham Envtl. L. Rev. 259 (2026).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/elr/vol37/iss2/1