Worlds apart! Environmental injustices in Mauritius, Peru and Sweden

Abstract

During the last few years, there has been a growing concern for environmental justice within international social work. This article connects to such concerns and aims to present and discuss environmental injustices faced by local communities in Mauritius, Peru and Sweden. Primary data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with a total of 25 key representatives of local communities in the three countries. Secondary materials were combined with the primary data in ATLAS-ti v.8.3 for a deductive critical discourse analysis. The findings describe the substantive, distributive and procedural environmental injustices faced by local communities in the three case studies. The article then considers the implications of the findings for international social work interventions in promoting environmental justice. The article concludes on the need for international social workers to continue their efforts and practices towards achieving environmental justice for all, in promoting global sustainable development.

Intervención social en desastres socionaturales: análisis desde estudiantes de trabajo social de Coquimbo y Atacama en Chile y los desafíos para la eco-formación disciplinar

“…Algunos artículos científicos recientes, presentan evidencias de intervenciones y hallazgos de investigaciones. Abordan temas como justicia ambiental e implicancias para la práctica del TS en su dimensión ética y de bienestar (Garlington & Collins, 2021), las injusticias ambientales y su implicancias para el TS (Rambaree, et al, 2022), salud en personas adultas mayores, desastres naturales y voluntariado ambiental (Hsiao et al, 2019); organización de servicios sociales en situaciones de desastres (Cohen et al, 2019;Maglajlic, 2018); resiliencia ante desastres en contexto de desastres urbanos (Zhang et al, 2019); efectos de los desastres en las personas y el papel técnico y ético del trabajo social en procesos de gestión e intervención en desastres, emergencias o amenazas (Mhlanga et al, 2019, Nuttman-Shwartz & Sternberg, 2016; experiencia de cuidadores familiares de personas con Alzheimer y demencia frente a un desastre (Gibson et al, 2018); preparación de poblaciones en situación de riesgo social frente a desastres y las intersecciones entre las desventajas geográficas y sociales (Howard et al, 2018); justicia y salud ambiental como respuesta al cambio climático en el Caribe (Hayward, 2018); afrontamiento y estrés postraumático en estudiantes de trabajo social luego de los huracanes Katrina y Rita (Prost et al, 2018); desafíos de la intervención social y la comunidad sorda frente a desastres en Japón (Takayama, 2017); adolescentes que sobreviven a desastres y el estigma como barrera a la participación en servicios de salud mental (Kranke et al, 2016); descolonizar las prácticas del TS en caso de desastres y la relevancia de la acción comunitaria (Pyles, 2016). Se trata de debates científicos que van en la línea de los que plantea Maglajlic (2018), respecto de las características de los estudios científicos de TS en DSN, esto es: 1) estudios cualitativos a pequeña escala y específicos de un solo desastre, 2) se centran en prácticas, a nivel micro y en entornos particulares, 3) Abordan tres temas clave: el contexto de las intervenciones de trabajo social durante y después de un DSN, buenas prácticas organizativas frente y el papel del TS durante y post desastre.…”

Environmental Justice in the Case of the Chagos Marine Protected Area: Implications for International Social Work

“…International social work associations-such as the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of School of Social Work-have identified environmental justice as a core issue within the practice and education of both national and international social work [54]. International social workers have the necessary training, skills, and mandate based on their professional values and ethics to work on local/indigenous people's needs and rights related to environmental justice [9]. International social workers can and do play effective roles in community organizing, and advocacy for eco-social policies and governance of coastal ecosystems that are vital for communities to thrive and become sustainable [60].…”

“…Social justice plays a central role in the definition, mission, and vision of social work. Within the profession of social work, environmental justice is regarded as part of social justice, and environmental problems as social problems [7][8][9].…”

“…Often, injustices have roots in global systems and structures that have cross-border effects, which require International Social Work (ISW) interventions [9]. Healy (2008) defines ISW as international professional social work practice and the capacity for international action by social work professionals [10].…”

Social-Environmental Conflicts in Chile: Is There Any Potential for an Ecological Constitution?

“…Given this overwhelming vote, several existing and emerging organizations started to demand an "ecological constitution" as an integral solution to environmental injustices [8,9]. Environmental injustice, commonly regarded as part of social injustice, normally refers to the unjust distribution of unhealthy environments under which communities with low-income and/or racial and ethnic minority residents are exposed to environmental and health hazards [10][11][12]. In the election of the 155 delegates to the convention in 2021, 105 of those elected campaigned for the inclusion of at least three environmental principles in the new constitution, as presented to the electoral college in their official campaign programs [7].…”