Introduction Spaces of Environmental Justice: Frameworks for Critical Engagement

Holifield, Ryan; Porter, Michael A.; Walker, Gordon

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2009.00690.x

Cited by 121 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…as theoretically weak and dispersed (Holifield, Porter and Walker 2009). For example, Swyngedouw and Heynen (2003) charge that the EJ focus on local case studies does not lend itself to generalization.…”

Section: Journal Of Political Ecologymentioning

confidence: 96%

Mapping the frontiers and front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas

Temper

Bene

Martínez-Alier

2015

Journal of Political Ecology

345

214

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This article highlights the need for collaborative research on ecological conflicts within a global perspective. As the social metabolism of our industrial economy increases, intensifying extractive activities and the production of waste, the related social and environmental impacts generate conflicts and resistance across the world. This expansion of global capitalism leads to greater disconnection between the diverse geographies of injustice along commodity chains. Yet, at the same time, through the globalization of governance processes and Environmental Justice (EJ) movements, local political ecologies are becoming increasingly transnational and interconnected. We first make the case for the need for new approaches to understanding such interlinked conflicts through collaborative and engaged research between academia and civil society. We then present a large-scale research project aimed at understanding the determinants of resource extraction and waste disposal conflicts globally through a collaborative mapping initiative: The EJAtlas, the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice. This article introduces the EJAtlas mapping process and its methodology, describes the process of co-design and development of the atlas, and assesses the initial outcomes and contribution of the tool for activism, advocacy and scientific knowledge. We explain how the atlas can enrich EJ studies by going beyond the isolated case study approach to offer a wider systematic evidence-based enquiry into the politics, power relations and socio-metabolic processes surrounding environmental justice struggles locally and globally. Key words: environmental justice, maps, ecological distribution conflicts, activist knowledge, political ecology RésuméCet article met en évidence la nécessité pour la recherche collaborative sur les conflits écologiques, avec une perspective globale. Le métabolisme social de notre économie industrielle est en augmentation. Cette intensifie les activités d'extraction et la production de déchets, et les impacts sociaux et environnementaux associés générer des conflits et de la résistance. Cette expansion du capitalisme mondial conduit à une plus grande déconnexion entre les diverses «géographies de l'injustice» à travers le filière. Pourtant, dans le même temps, grâce à la mondialisation de la gouvernance et des mouvements pour la justice environnementale (EJ), les écologies politiques locales sont de plus en plus transnationale et interconnecté. D'abord, nous plaidons pour de nouvelles approches pour comprendre ces conflits interconnectés à travers la collaboration et la recherche engagés, entre le monde universitaire et la société civile. Deuxièmement, nous présentons un projet de recherche à grande échelle visant à comprendre les déterminants de conflits au sujet de l'extraction des ressources et de l'élimination des déchets à travers une collaboration mondiale initiative de cartographie: le EJAtlas, l'Atlas mondial de la Justice de l'environnement. Ce document présente les EJAtlas et sa méthodologie, décri...

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Section: Journal Of Political Ecologymentioning

confidence: 96%

Mapping the frontiers and front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas

Temper

Bene

Martínez-Alier

2015

Journal of Political Ecology

345

214

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Recognition: Vulnerable groups in all countries not only bear a disproportionate share of both environmental burdens, benefits and opportunities but also lack recognition and the voice of the disadvantaged and the vulnerable in policies that determine their lives [59,[62][63][64][65][66]. Significantly, social sustainability endorses politics of recognition, which encompass policies aiming "to revalue unjustly devalued identities", and to deconstruct tendencies, such as queer politics, critical "race" politics, and deconstructive feminism, which reject the "essentialism" of traditional identity politics.…”

Section: Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Sustainability: A New Conceptual Framework

2017

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Abstract:There is a lack of theoretical and empirical studies regarding social sustainability. The literature reveals that the "social" was integrated late into debates on sustainable development. This paper aims to fill this gap and proposes a new conceptual framework of social sustainability. We suggest that risk is a constitutive concept of sustainability and that the contemporary conditions of risk resulting primarily from climate change and its ensuing uncertainties pose serious social, spatial, structural, and physical threats to contemporary human societies and their living spaces. Within the framework of sustainability, we propose that social sustainability strives to confront risk while addressing social concerns. Although we agree that without socially oriented practices, efforts to achieve sustainability will be undermined, as too many gaps exist in practice and theory. Thus, we propose a comprehensive Conceptual Framework of Social Sustainability, which is composed of four interrelated concepts of socially oriented practices, where each concept has a distinctive function in the framework and incorporates major social aspects. The concept of Equity encompasses three dimensions: recognition, which "revalues unjustly devalued identities", redistribution, which suggests that the remedy for injustice is some form of economic restructuring, and parity of participation, which promotes substantive public involvement in the production of space. These efforts may, in turn, reduce alienation and enhance civility and a sense of community and place attachment. The concept of Safety is the ontological foundation of sustainability in general and social sustainability in particular. The concept refers to the right to not only be safe but adopt all measures of adaptation and security to prevent future casualties and physical harm. The concept of Eco-prosumption refers to modes of producing and gaining values in socially and environmentally responsible ways. The concept of Urban Forms represents the physical dimensions of socially desired urban and community physical forms. Eventually, a desired physical form should promote a sense of community, safety, health, and place attachment, among other environmental objectives.

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“…At the same time the persistence of an entrenched conservation ideology has meant that more recent efforts to promote environmental justice have been frustrated and spaces of inequality continue to be reproduced. According to Walker and Bulkeley (2006: 658), "assessing what constitutes just access and just protection carries additional conceptual and practical challenges", and involves the complexity of scale and spatial interconnectedness (MacDonald 2005;Holifield et al 2009). At issue is not whether trade-offs are made or not, for example between access and conservation, but rather to what extent conflicts of interest are acknowledged, recognised and dealt with in participatory and transparent ways (Dahlberg & Burlando 2009), and not hidden within unrecognised legacies of past ideologies.…”

Section: National Parks Environmental Justice and Ideological Legaciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The result is a continuation of the unjust relationships that characterised colonial periods (Igoe & Brockington 2007;Brockington 2009). Spatial complexity and interconnectedness are important aspects for an understanding of how environmental justice works, or does not work, and includes recognition of place specificity alongside the historical contexts of localities set within a wider global analysis (Holifield et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

National parks and environmental justice: Comparing access rights and ideological legacies in three countries

2010

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Introduction Spaces of Environmental Justice: Frameworks for Critical Engagement

Cited by 121 publications

References 57 publications

Mapping the frontiers and front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas

Mapping the frontiers and front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas

Social Sustainability: A New Conceptual Framework

National parks and environmental justice: Comparing access rights and ideological legacies in three countries

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