FALLING IN LOVE WITH NATURE

Explores the contours of Latinx Catholic environmentalism Home based conservationist measures such as cultivating backyard gardens avoiding consumerism and limiting waste are widespread among Spanish speaking Catholics across the United States Yet these home based conservationist practices are seldom recognized as environmental because they are enacted by working class immigrant communities and do not conform to the expectations of mainstream environmentalism In Falling in Love with Nature Amanda J Baugh tells the story of American environmentalism through a focus on Spanish speaking Catholics shedding light on environmental actors who have been hidden in plain sight While dominant narratives about environmental activism include minorities primarily in the realm of environmental racism and injustice Baugh demonstrates that minority communities are not merely victims of environmental problems They can be active agents who express love for nature based on inherited family traditions and close relationships with the land Baugh shows that Spanish speaking Catholics have values that have been overlooked in global discourses grassroots movements and the highest echelons of the US Catholic Church By drawing attention to the environmental knowledge that is alr