Stewards of the Land: Race and Reclaiming Environmental Labor in the American West

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Stevie Ruiz

Stewards of the Land

Name: Stewards of the Land
Price: 229 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781469693347

Race and Reclaiming Environmental Labor in the American West

Stevie Ruiz

$229

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

The University of North Carolina Press
21 April 2026

History of the Americas; Social & cultural history; Historical geography; Local history

Series: Justice, Power, and Politics

The history of the environmental movement—from environmentalism to the environmental justice struggles of the late twentieth century—has often been portrayed as a series of efforts led by white environmentalists. In Stewards of the Land, Stevie Ruiz reassesses the movement and reveals that it has always been a multiracial endeavor. From Southern California berry fields to Japanese American concentration camps, and from Chinese cooks in national parks to Chicano Civilian Conservation Corps workers, Ruiz traces how the racialized labor and environmental knowledge of Asian migrants and Chicana/o communities built the material foundations of modern environmentalism.

Spanning from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s, Stewards of the Land argues that environmental justice was never just a reaction to pollution in the 1970s but has a much longer history tied to land theft, labor exploitation, and the everyday struggles of frontline communities to live and work with dignity. Drawing from comparative ethnic studies, archival research, and a commitment to decolonial praxis, Ruiz recovers the stories of those who labored—often invisibly—to build, maintain and reimagine environmental space in the American West.

By: Stevie Ruiz
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 25mm, Spine: 155mm
ISBN: 9781469693347
ISBN 10: 1469693348
Series: Justice, Power, and Politics
Pages: 220
Publication Date: 21 April 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Stevie Ruiz is associate professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at California State University, Northridge.

Reviews for Stewards of the Land: Race and Reclaiming Environmental Labor in the American West

“A highly original and innovative approach to understanding environmental justice struggles across multiple marginalized communities.”—David Naguib Pellow, author of What is Critical Environmental Justice?