Global Environmental Justice and the Environmentalism of the Poor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Martinez-Alier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Tree Plantations ◽  
Ecological Distribution ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The World ◽  
Water Justice

There are an increasing number of ecological distribution conflicts around the world ultimately caused from the increase in the metabolism of the economy in terms of flows of energy and materials. There are resource extraction conflicts, transport conflicts, and also waste disposal conflicts. Therefore, there are many local complaints. Since the 1980s and 1990s there has been a globalizing environmental justice movement that in its strategy meetings and practices has developed a set of concepts and slogans to describe and intervene in such conflicts. They include “environmental racism,” “popular epidemiology,” “the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous,” “biopiracy,” “tree plantations are not forests,” “the ecological debt,” “climate justice,” “food sovereignty,” “water justice,” and so on . . . These notions have been born from socio-environmental activism but sometimes they have been taken up also by academic political ecologists and used in their analyses.

scholarly journals Between activism and science: grassroots concepts for sustainability coined by Environmental Justice Organizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Martinez-Alier ◽  
Isabelle Anguelovski ◽  
Patrick Bond ◽  
Daniela Del Bene ◽  
Federico Demaria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
Water Justice

In their own battles and strategy meetings since the early 1980s, EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and their networks have introduced several concepts to political ecology that have also been taken up by academics and policy makers. In this paper, we explain the contexts in which such notions have arisen, providing definitions of a wide array of concepts and slogans related to environmental inequities and sustainability, and explore the connections and relations between them. These concepts include: environmental justice, ecological debt, popular epidemiology, environmental racism, climate justice, environmentalism of the poor, water justice, biopiracy, food sovereignty, "green deserts", "peasant agriculture cools downs the Earth", land grabbing, Ogonization and Yasunization, resource caps, corporate accountability, ecocide, and indigenous territorial rights, among others. We examine how activists have coined these notions and built demands around them, and how academic research has in turn further applied them and supplied other related concepts, working in a mutually reinforcing way with EJOs. We argue that these processes and dynamics build an activist-led and co-produced social sustainability science, furthering both academic scholarship and activism on environmental justice.Keywords: Political ecology, environmental justice organizations, environmentalism of the poor, ecological debt, activist knowledge

10. New Society

2021 ◽  
pp. 209-232
Author(s):  
John S. Dryzek
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Conventional Form ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Green Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Parts

The more political dimension of green radicalism analyzed in this chapter believes that ecological limits and boundaries can only be confronted, and the path to a better society charted, though political activism and thoroughgoing change in dominant institutions and practices. It finds its most conventional form of organization in green political parties that have been part of the electoral landscape since the 1980s, and that have in several countries (especially in Europe) joined governing coalitions and provided government ministers. However, social movements such as Occupy, Extinction Rebellion, Transition Initiatives, and those for environmental justice and sustainable materialism matter just as much. Movements for global environmental justice and the environmentalism of the global poor, and radical summits, have taken radical green politics to different parts of the world and to the global stage. An eco-anarchist disposition is associated with social ecology, and some radicals seek to link green politics and socialism. Green radicalism takes on economics in “doughnut economics” and proposals for a “Green New Deal”.

scholarly journals The Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas): ecological distribution conflicts as forces for sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Temper ◽  
Federico Demaria ◽  
Arnim Scheidel ◽  
Daniela Del Bene ◽  
Joan Martinez-Alier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Ecological Distribution ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Global Environmental Justice

scholarly journals A global environmental justice movement: mapping ecological distribution conflicts

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Joan Martínez Alier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Affirmative Answer ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Ecological Distribution ◽  
Business Economics ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Global Environmental Justice

The industrial economy is not circular, it is entropic, therefore requiring new supplies of energy and materials extracted from the “commodity frontiers”, and producing polluting waste. Therefore, ecological distribution conflicts arise. The Global Atlas of Environmental Justice is an online inventory of such ecological distribution conflicts based on scholarly and activist knowledge. It reached 3200 entries by July 2020 (ejtlas.org) allowing research on such conflicts in the field of comparative, statistical political ecology. The EJAtlas is used for research but also for university teaching in the environmental social sciences and in business economics and management. It is a unique instrument co-produced with and supporting environmental movements. One can do comparative analyses on the social actors involved in the conflicts and their forms of mobilization, and also on the behaviour of private or public companies. Research may focus on countries or regions but also on cross-cultural topics such as gold and copper mining, sand mining, dams, eucalyptus or oil palm plantations, incinerators and other methods of waste disposal, coal fired power plants, gas fracking, nuclear reactors, CAFOs. Analyses are done also on the cross- cultural expressions (slogans, banners, documentaries, murals) of the conflicts gathered in the EJAtlas. The wealth of research coming from the EJAtlas gives an affirmative answer to the question: Is there a global environmental justice movement? Making old or emergent conflicts more visible contributes to placing political ecology at the centre of politics.

Ecological Social Work in South Africa and the Way Forward

2021 ◽  
pp. 151-174
Author(s):  
Linda Arkert ◽  
Issie Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

Internationally, social work has been delayed in engaging with ecological social work. The delay is reflected in South Africa, which is predicted to be a hot spot where the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are already being experienced. The effects of climate change and environmental degradation are social and environmental justice issues as the marginalized and poor in this country and the world have already been experiencing dire consequences. Social work practitioners and academics, in their roles as advocates for the marginalized and the poor, are therefore duty-bound to act for a sustainable environment for both people and the planet. In this chapter, the authors examine ecological social work in South Africa, its importance, and how it could become part of the global call for an ecological social work approach.

scholarly journals Gendered geographies of violence: a multiple case study analysis of murdered women environmental defenders

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1189-1212
Author(s):  
Dalena Le Tran ◽  
Joan Martinez-Alier ◽  
Grettel Navas ◽  
Sara Mingorria
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ecological Distribution ◽  
Environmental Distribution ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
Multiple Case

This study illustrates how, despite the diversity of women environmental defenders and their movements around the world, there are near-universal patterns of violence threatening their survival. Violence against women environmental defenders, often perpetrated by government-backed corporations, remains overlooked. Research on this issue importantly contributes to discussions about environmental justice because women defenders make up a large proportion of those at the frontlines of ecological distribution conflicts. Through comparative political ecology, this research analyzes cases from the Environmental Justice Atlas, an online open-access inventory of environmental distribution conflicts, in which one or more women were assassinated while fighting a diverse array of extractive and polluting projects. Although the stories showcase a breadth of places, conflicts, social-class backgrounds, and other circumstances between women defenders, most cases featured multinational large-scale extractive companies supported by governments violently targeting women defenders with impunity.Keywords: Violence, murder, women environmental defenders, EJAtlas, comparative political ecology 

Indigenous Environmental Justice, Knowledge, and Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Indigenous Worldviews ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Innovative Approaches

This article aims to introduce a distinct conception of Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ) based on Indigenous legal orders, knowledge systems, and conceptions of justice. This is not to suggest in any way that the existing environmental justice (EJ) scholarship is flawed; in fact, the scholarship and activism around EJ have been central in diagnosing and drawing attention to injustices that occur on a systematic basis everywhere in the world. This article argues instead that such discussions can be expanded by acknowledging that concepts of environmental justice, including distinct legal orders informed by Indigenous knowledge systems, already existed on Turtle Island for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. It also suggests that environmental justice framed within Indigenous worldviews, ontologies, and epistemologies may make significant contributions to broader EJ scholarship, particularly in relation to extending justice to other beings and entities in Creation. This approach acknowledges ongoing colonialism and emphasizes the need to decolonize in order to advance innovative approaches to IEJ. 

Comparative Study Of Islamic Economic Law And The Capitalist

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Tesa Mellina ◽  
Mohammad Ghozali
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Economic Law ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Economic Practice ◽  
The World ◽  
Islamic Economic ◽  
Economic Injustice ◽  
Islamic Values

The implementation ofthe capitalist system has eliminated the Islamic values in economic practice. After the financial crisis hit the world, the capitalist system reaped many questions and its greatnessbegins to be doubted. The capitalist system implementationprecisely creates new problems in the economy. The concept of individualism which is the main key in capitalist practice only creates economic injustice and misery of the poor. The only economic theory that is expected as a light in dealing with economic problems is an economic system that is able to create justice,the welfare of all parties and blessings both the world and the hereafter. The theory is the Islamic economics which in practice is inseparable from Islamiceconomic law. Islamic economic law that underlies the Islamic economic system is totally different from the capitalist economic system.Keywords: Islamic Economic Law; Islamic economics; Capitalist Economy

Human Rights and 21st Century Challenges

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
First Century ◽  
World Population ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Relative Share ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The World ◽  
Twenty First Century

The world faces significant and interrelated challenges in the twenty-first century which threaten human rights in a number of ways. This book examines the relationship between human rights and three of the largest challenges of the twenty-first century: conflict and security, environment, and poverty. Technological advances in fighting wars have led to the introduction of new weapons which threaten to transform the very nature of conflict. In addition, states confront threats to security which arise from a new set of international actors not clearly defined and which operate globally. Climate change, with its potentially catastrophic impacts, features a combination of characteristics which are novel for humanity. The problem is caused by the sum of innumerable individual actions across the globe and over time, and similarly involves risks that are geographically and temporally diffuse. In recent decades, the challenges involved in addressing global and national poverty have also changed. For example, the relative share of the poor in the world population has decreased significantly while the relative share of the poor who live in countries with significant domestic capacity has increased strongly. Overcoming these global and interlocking threats constitutes this century’s core political and moral task. This book examines how these challenges may be addressed using a human rights framework. It considers how these challenges threaten human rights and seeks to reassess our understanding of human rights in the light of these challenges. The analysis considers both foundational and applied questions. The approach is multidisciplinary and contributors include some of the most prominent lawyers, philosophers, and political theorists in the debate. The authors not only include leading academics but also those who have played important roles in shaping the policy debates on these questions. Each Part includes contributions by those who have served as Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations human rights system on the challenges under consideration.

Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jock R. Anderson ◽  
Regina Birner ◽  
Latha Najarajan ◽  
Anwar Naseem ◽  
Carl E. Pray
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Agricultural Research And Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Private agricultural research and development can foster the growth of agricultural productivity in the diverse farming systems of the developing world comparable to the public sector. We examine the extent to which technologies developed by private entities reach smallholder and resource-poor farmers, and the impact they have on poverty reduction. We critically review cases of successfully deployed improved agricultural technologies delivered by the private sector in both large and small developing countries for instructive lessons for policy makers around the world.

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