A Just Transition for the Building Sector: The Architecture Lobby’s Retroactive Roadmap

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A Just Transition for the Building Sector: The Architecture Lobby’s Retroactive Roadmap

Valérie Lechêne

Science For THe People

September 1, 2020

Excerpt

“The Green New Deal (GND) is the American government’s most compendious response to the existential threat of the climate crisis. At its core is the idea of a just transition. This term first emerged in labor movements in the 1970s as a response to the politicized dichotomy of “jobs versus environment” and “hippies-versus-hardhats” and outlines the process of deep decarbonization strategized with and for those most impacted by climate change.¹ While it is a powerful framework, its federal implementation through a GND is yet to be construed, planned, or enacted.”

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Our Manifesto

Build worker power and collective agency through unions and cooperatives.
A living wage, benefits, job security, and wage transparency across the discipline.
No more free labor; no unpaid internships, unpaid overtime, or unpaid competitions.
Center the importance of labor in our understanding of architecture. Architecture is work!
Stop peddling buildings as products. Demand compensation based on the value and impact our work creates.
End oppression based on gender within and enabled by the discipline.
Confront the complicity of architecture in racism. Confront racism in our workplaces.
Design for the full spectrum of human life. Universal design is not an afterthought.
Challenge the concept of licensure. Expand the right to practice.
Celebrate the collective process of producing architecture. Demystify architecture as the work of a solo creative genius.
Climate justice as the basis of all architectural work. There can be no sustainable future without sustainable labor practices.
Fight for democratic alternatives to the capitalist system of development.

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