Chapter 8: Environmental Justice

WAGNER, LUCRECIA

The Routledge Handbook to the Political Economy and Governance of the Americas

Routledge

Lugar: London-New York; Año: 2020; p. 93 - 102

Environmental Justice (EJ) is a concept that connects environmental problems with social justice. It was constituted within the struggles against the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits between different social groups. This concept was born in the United States of America (USA) in the 1980s to denounce the practice and policy leading to some individuals, groups, and communities receiving less environmental protection than others because of their geographic location, race, and economic status. In such cases, risk burdens are localized to specific, often marginalized groups, yet the benefits are generalized across all segments of society (Bullard 1994).The concept was developed by an emerging movement opposing environmental injustices of different kinds: The actors who are involved in this movement argue that differences of race, economics status, as well as sex, age, gender and capabilities, among others, are the cause of unequal distribution of environmental impacts. Theory and practice of environmental justice necessarily includes distributive conceptions of justice, but also embraces notions of justice based in recognition, participation and capabilities (Bauler n.d.; Schlosberg 2007). The environmental injustice term describes the disproportionate imposition of environmental risks to populations who have less financial, political, and informational resources (Acselrad et al. 2009).Critical thought and action dedicated to studying these power relationships is key to understanding the management and appropriation of natural resources and their use by different social groups. The concept is not only an analytical tool, but a call to organize and reflect about a sustainable form of human-nature relations. Thus, the environmental justice movement attacks the lack of democracy regarding the prevention of environmental contamination. It claims to extend equal social participation in decision making processes. In conclusion, environmental justice also implicates justice regarding different aspects of the environment and beyond. As Giovanna Di Chiro says, it involves the protection of the place where we "live, work and play" (1998).