David Schlosberg

Reconceiving Environmental Justice: Global Movements And Political Theories

While calls for ‘environmental justice’ have grown recently, very little attention has been paid to exactly what the ‘justice’ of environmental justice refers to, particularly in the realm of social movement demands. Most understandings of environmental justice refer to the issue of equity, or the distribution of environmental ills and benefits. But defining environmental justice as equity is incomplete, as activists, communities, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) call for much more than just distribution. This essay examines how definitions beyond the distributive in these movements can help us develop conceptions of global environmental justice. The argument is that the justice demanded by global environmental justice is really threefold: equity in the distribution of environmental risk, recognition of the diversity of the participants and experiences in affected communities, and participation in the political processes which create and manage environmental policy. The existence of three different notions of justice in the movement, simultaneously, demonstrates the plausibility of a plural yet unified theory and practice of justice.

Defining Environmental Justice

Defining environmental justice , Defining environmental justice , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز

Theorising environmental justice: the expanding sphere of a discourse

Environmental justice has been a central concern in a range of disciplines, and both the concept and its coverage have expanded substantially in the past two decades. I examine this development in three key ways. First, I explore how early work on environmental justice pushed beyond many boundaries: it challenged the very notion of ‘environment’, examined the construction of injustice beyond inequity, and illustrated the potential of pluralistic conceptions of social justice. More recently, there has been a spatial expansion of the use of the term, horizontally into a broader range of issues, vertically into examinations of the global nature of environmental injustices, and conceptually to the human relationship with the non-human world. Further, I argue that recent extensions of the environmental justice frame move the discourse into a new realm – where environment and nature are understood to create the conditions for social justice.

Indigenous Struggles, Environmental Justice, and Community Capabilities

Environmental justice is often defined in terms of the distribution (or maldistribution) of environmental goods and bads. Activists and scholars have also focused on issues of cultural recognition and political participation. This article posits a capabilities-based conception of environmental justice. We argue that environmental challenges raised by indigenous communities demonstrate a broad, complex conception of environmental justice focused on a range of capabilities and basic functionings, at both the individual and community levels. We begin with a theoretical justification for a capabilities-based approach to understanding environmental justice. We then offer two in-depth case studies from the US and Chile, to illustrate our argument that indigenous environmental justice struggles clearly articulate themes of community capabilities and functioning, highlighting the importance of social and cultural reproduction.

Environmental Transformation of the State: The USA, Norway, Germany and the UK:

Modern states underwent two major transformations that produced first, the liberal capitalist state and second, the welfare state. Each was accompanied by the migration of a previously confrontational movement into the core of the state. In the creation of the liberal capitalist state, the bourgeoisie could harmonize with the states emerging interest in economic growth. In the creation of the welfare state, the organized working class could harmonize with the states emerging interest in legitimating the political economy by curbing capitalisms instability and inequality. We show that environmental conservation could now emerge as a core state interest, growing out of these established economic and legitimation imperatives. This examination is grounded in a comparative historical study of four countries: the USA, Norway, Germany, and the UK, each of which exemplifies a particular kind of interest representation. We show why the USA was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, and why Germany now leads in addressing environmental concerns.

Ecological modernisation, American style

The United States lags behind European countries in adopting ecological modernisation policies and practices. Ecological modernisation (EM), as it has been developed in the EU, emphasises industrial efficiency and technological development in order to move beyond the perceived conflict between economic development and environmental quality. Despite early attempts by individuals and groups to promote such ideas in the United States, both governments and industry remained threatened by its discourse while it spread in Europe. More recently, however, the US appears more open to its own form of ecological modernisation, with some unique additions to the discourse. This paper examines this growing and increasingly popular US version of ecological modernisation, which incorporates two concepts generally absent from earlier European conceptions of EM – national security and blatant consumerism. We then turn to the limitations of such a discourse, and conclude with suggestions for how the framing of EM in the US could be broadened and strengthened.

Democracy and the Environment on the Internet Electronic Citizen Participation in Regulatory Rulemaking

We hypothesize that recent uses of the Internet as a public-participation mechanism in the United States fail to overcome the adversarial culture that characterizes the American regulatory process. Although the Internet has the potential to facilitate deliberative processes that could result in more widespread public involvement, greater transparency in government processes, and a more satisfied citizenry, we argue that efforts to implement Internet-based public participation have overlaid existing problematic government processes without fully harnessing the transformative power of information technologies. Public comments submitted in two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rulemaking processes—the National Organic Program’s organic standard and the Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule—compose our data. We conclude that the Internet provides an arena for playing out three types of conflicts that have long plagued environmental decision-making processes: conflicts over trust of federal agencies, the use of science, and the role of public values.

Climate Justice and Capabilities: A Framework for Adaptation Policy

This article lays out a capabilities and justice-based approach to the development of adaptation policy. While many theories of climate justice remain focused on ideal theories for global mitigation, the argument here is for a turn to just adaptation, using a capabilities framework to encompass vulnerability, social recognition, and public participation in policy responses. This article argues for a broadly defined capabilities approach to climate justice, combining a recognition of the vulnerability of basic needs with a process for public involvement. Such an approach can be used to engage stakeholders with varied perceptions of what is at risk, and to develop priorities for adaptation policy. It addresses both individual and community-level vulnerabilities, and acknowledges that the conditions of justice depend on a functioning, even if shifting, environment.

Democracy and E-Rulemaking: Web-Based Technologies, Participation, and the Potential for Deliberation

Abstract Deliberative democratic theorists and public participation scholars have become increasingly interested in institutionalized forms of citizen discourse with the state, including those facilitated by information technology. However, there have been very few empirical studies of the claims that the Internet will make public participation more inclusive and deliberative. We report the results of an exploratory survey of 1,556 citizen participants in regulatory public comment processes in the United States. Our analysis focuses on the differences in deliberative indicators between those who submitted their comments using newly available electronic tools and those who postal mailed or faxed letters on paper. We also examine differences between those who submitted an original letter and those who submitted a version of a mass-mailed form letter. Overall, the data found modest evidence of the presence of deliberative democratic practices. More interesting are the apparently fundamental differences between citizens who submit original comments and those who submit form letters. We discuss the implications of these findings as they relate to the use of information technology to increase government-citizen deliberation.

Networks and mobile arrangements: Organisational innovation in the US environmental justice movement

This study examines and evaluates the political practice of networking in the US environmental justice movement. Networking is a strategy that has evolved in opposition to perceived problems with centralised organisations, and out of the inherent diversity of the movement. This form of organising not only proposes a remedy to the limitations of the conventional model, but is also more able to confront changes in the nature of power, capital, and the political oversight of environmental problems. The study concludes with an examination of some of problems that might hamper a networked movement.