Environmental Justice Film Screening and Discussion: "RiverBlue"

66 Front Street,Ashland MA 01721

11 March, 2023

Description

Join us for a viewing and discussion of RiverBlue. Ashlander, Rajashree Ghosh will lead the follow up conversation. If you are not able to join us for the viewing, you can watch it on the library's Hoopla Channel Then, you can join us for the conversation after (we hope!). ​ RiverBlue documents the profound impact of textile factories serving the fashion industry in Western countries on the rivers in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, UK, USA, and Zambia. The film connects the consumer appetite for cheap and trendy garments with a rapid increase in the profitable but unsustainable production of disposable clothing. The film visits communities that rely on their waterways for food, livestock, and sustenance, and it chronicles the devastating effects of untreated wastewater from the factories. The polluted water harms the local aquatic life, contaminates crops, and eventually reaches the ocean to spread around the globe. Overall, the film educates the viewer on the issues of environmental degradation, global trade agreements, workers’ rights, and hazardous working conditions. As a teaching tool, the film is more than a critique of the fashion industry; it also explores alternative and responsible manufacturing processes that can help resolve this global problem. About Rajashree: Rajashree Ghosh is an Affiliated Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, USA. Her current project titled, “Home and hearth: women and citizenship in urban informal settlements in India” has policy and academic layers. Combining experiential and desk research, she is motivated to present the broader connections between women’s struggles and urban living. Rajashree has worked for the United Nations World Food Programme in India and has utilized a consultative approach to create synergy between Government, non-profit and multilateral agencies. She has also consulted for the Italian International Land Coalition and collaborated with the Canadian Global Environment Justice Documentaries project to bring films about social and climate justice, land tenure and environmental sustainability into the classroom. She has translated her expertise into advising policy, documentation and action research in remote corners of India and beyond. Using an interdisciplinary approach and her expertise in international social development, Rajashree creates and disseminates knowledge related to community, theory and practice at grassroots levels. She has written for UN Habitat's ​Urban Resilience Hub, Globaldev, Oxfam's From Poverty to Power and InterAction. ​ "The film connects the consumer appetite for cheap and trendy garments with a rapid increase in the profitable but unsustainable production of disposable clothing.” --Rajashree Ghosh Coffee/Tea/Cookies will be provided. It's a long program, we'll need sustenance! Please register so we know how many cookies to have on hand. Refreshments and this program are sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library. RiverBlue is one of 48 films in the Global Environmental Justice documentaries project, a curated collection prize-winning documentaries and teacher's guides designed for use in undergraduate studies. Sign Up for the Library's Newsletter!