A feminist community-based participatory action research approach to advance climate justice

The purpose of this research is to develop and pilot a feminist informed community based participatory action research approach (f-CBPAR) to injustice. CBPAR is a collaborative approach between researchers and community members throughout the research process. F-CBPAR draws on both feminist theory and CBPAR literatures to identify power arrangements that contribute to environmental injustice. Using a f-CBPAR case study approach of primary interview data and descriptive secondary data, this exploratory study identifies climate threats of concern to a rural, farmworker community in California (USA) experiencing environmental and climate injustice. The f-CBPAR approach is used in partnering with community organizations to analyze hierarchical systems of power in conducting environmental exposure research. Through this exploratory case study, it unpacks one test case to showcase how f-CBPAR can help researchers further climate justice research. The originality of this research lies in the development of a novel CBPAR approach informed by feminist theory to identify gendered, racialized, and classed power arrangements that maintain climate injustice and to foster community action against such injustice. • Feminist theory can improve community engaged research approaches. • Feminist community engaged research advances disaster and climate justice research. • Case study showcases how such an approach can analyze multifaceted disasters.