Literature Review on the Topic of Marine Litter and Environmental Justice

Description

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW? A literature review asks you to consider existing literature on a particular topic, and synthesize the prevailing debates on that topic by scholars and secondary sources more broadly.   For this course project you will pick a topic (i.e. environmental justice issue) to write about and relate it to a theme or theory we have addressed in the course. For example, you might evaluate scholarship (i.e. what has been published by academic authors in books or peer-reviewed journal articles) on urban garden movements, or perhaps look at coalitions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmental activists fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NODAPL).        A literature review is a critical assessment of scholarship, but one that is focused. Literature reviews are typically found in the beginning of an academic article, presenting different perspectives on a topic (perhaps major debates or perspectives on a given topic). In an academic article, a writer sets-up the literature review to then make their own claim, response, or intervention in a field. Generally the idea is that prior to entering a conversation, you want to be able to summarize the conversation – who is saying what, why – then insert yourself. So I would like to see you take a position, call for a particular area of work or further inquiry, based on your own assessment of a group of sources (the “literature” on a given topic). When writing about other people’s work, you will analyze the authors’ arguments and conclusions. What were their assumptions? What did they decide to examine and how did they examine it? What questions or evidence did they leave out? You should provide an account of the historical and contemporary debates, on an issue, by synthesizing the various perspectives. These theoretical perspectives and empirical findings tend to be nuanced and add incremental value to the literature. The literature review helps you explain how and why your suggested research question contributes to existing knowledge on the topic.  Pick a topic from any of the themes we have addressed in this course to focus your scholarly review. For example, you could delve into topics relating to an environmental justice movement (or disaster such as Hurricane Katrina) of interest (local or international; past or more recent). Ideally you will link your selected topic to one social movement theory or concept we have or will read in the course (i.e. theories presented by Pellow, Taylor, Finney, and others). In selecting a topic, be aware that some topics are so current there will not be much published academic research on the topic out yet. This semester, you have permission to research and write about a topic as current as COVID-19. So you may rely on unpublished draft research articles (many of these scientists are posting online), or more high quality journalism, including things like interviews with experts on shows/programs like Democracy Now.   FORMATTING: Your paper should be double spaced, 12-point font, and with one-inch margins all around. You should use a minimum of 10 secondary sources for the final paper: peer-reviewed articles, academic books, high-quality journalism, documentary films. Some government or reputable non-governmental publications are acceptable. Sources such as blogs or Wikipedia entries may be a good place to start to get to know a topic, but should not make it into your substantive writing or reference list. Google Scholar is the best place to start to look for scholarly sources. Remember that, in addressing your issue, you will need to use the best information you can find on the subject, consequently, try to use sources that are high quality. Ideally, you would emulate the formal tone that you see in the scholarship we have read this semester. Colloquial language such as, “Australia has a solid economy” should not appear in your paper.