We review the literature published in academic, non-law journals on environmental justice and environmental racism, focusing on the literature relevant to the environmental justice movement in the United States. In the overview we define major concepts: environment, justice, race and racism. We discuss major trends in the literature and in the movement and current issues and debates, including risk assessment, GIS mapping, and community-based research and campaigns. Annotations are provided for over 100 publications. We also include a table of GIS based studies and findings, a list of publications and dissertations not summarized, and a list of special issues and classic texts on environmental justice.