scholarly journals Social inequalities and environmental conflict

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (25) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Pellow
Keyword(s):  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Environmental Conflict ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
Social Scientific

This paper is organized around two points. The first concerns the literature on environmental justice (EJ) studies and its lack of incorporation of social scientific theories and concepts concerning racism. This is surprising, given EJ studies' strong interest in challenging a form of racism - environmental racism. This, in turn, allows for a critique of theories of racism for their lack of attention to the ways in which society-environment relations structure racist practices and discourses, and a critique of scholars who have understated the continuing impact of racism on communities of color. The second point concerns the degree to which modernization has led to an improvement in the environmental impacts associated with market economies and their production systems. Drawing on ecological modernization, risk society, and the treadmill of production theories, I argue that, as with popular and scholarly views on racism, many scholars have overstated the level of progress society has made on this front. I also argue that this is largely because - via practices such as environmental racism and globalization - many of the worst dimensions of the market economy's externalities are out of sight and out of mind (due largely to spatial and residential segregation and international hazardous waste exports), making it possible to either ignore or dismiss claims to the contrary.

scholarly journals Environmental Expertise as Group Belonging

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Lidskog ◽  
Göran Sundqvist
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Professional Socialization ◽  
Environmental Sociology ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
General View ◽  
Production Risk ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
Group Belonging

What is environmental expertise? The background to this question is that many scholars consider environmental expertise crucial for discovering, diagnosing, and solving environmental problems but do not discuss in any depth what constitutes expertise. By investigating the meaning and use of the concept of expertise in three general theories within environmental sociology—the treadmill of production, risk society, and ecological modernization— and findings from science and technology studies (STS), this article develops a sociological understanding of environmental expertise: what it is and how it is acquired. Environmental expertise is namely about group belonging and professional socialization around specialized skills; that is, it concerns both substantial competence and social recognition. The implications of this general view on expertise are then used to enrich theories in environmental sociology.

Uneven Decoupling

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Thombs ◽  
Xiaorui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Data Limitations ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
Global North ◽  
Organization Of Production ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

The macro-comparative decoupling literature has often sought to test the arguments made by the treadmill of production (TP) and ecological modernization (EM) theories. However, due to data limitations, these studies have been limited to analyzing the years after 1960. Given that both theories discuss historical processes operating before 1960, analyzing pre-1960 data is warranted to more comprehensively test the propositions made by both theories. We assess the long-term relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions from 1870 to 2014 using a sample of global North nations. We use Prais-Winsten regression models with time interactions to assess whether, when, and how much CO2 emissions have decoupled from economic growth over time. We find that significant relative decoupling has occurred twice since 1870: during the last 30 years of the nineteenth century, the timing of which is contrary to what both the EM and TP theories might expect, and after 1970. We also observe that the relationship remained relatively stable from the turn of the twentieth century to approximately 1970, which aligns with the arguments made by the classical TP work. We conclude that shifts in the global organization of production have shaped the magnitude of the economic growth–CO2 emissions relationship and its changes over time, which has implications for climate mitigation policy.

Bringing Moral Culture into the Fray

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conflict ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Moral Culture ◽  
Social Scientific Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Basic Level

This introductory chapter briefly presents the conflict in Yellowstone, elaborates on the book's theoretical argument, and specifies its substantive and theoretical contributions to the social scientific study of environment, culture, religion, and morality. The chapter argues that the environmental conflict in Yellowstone is not—as it would appear on the surface—ultimately all about scientific, economic, legal, or other technical evidence and arguments, but an underlying struggle over deeply held “faith” commitments, feelings, and desires that define what people find sacred, good, and meaningful in life at a most basic level. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.

Environmental racism in the heartland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genna Reed ◽  
Beto Lugo-Martinez ◽  
Casey Kalman
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Kansas City ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Risk Of Exposure ◽  
Negative Health Outcomes

As a result of a legacy of systemic racism,communities of color and low-income communities in Kansas City face a greater risk of exposure to environmental hazards. These hazards are associated with myriad negative health outcomes including cancer, respiratory illness, and shorter life expectancy.

Ecological Modernization, Risk Society, and The Green State

2020 ◽  
pp. 226-253
Author(s):  
John S. Dryzek ◽  
David Downes ◽  
Christian Hunold ◽  
David Schlosberg ◽  
Hans-Kristian Hernes
Keyword(s):  
Risk Society ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Green State

In the Shadow of Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-72
Author(s):  
Christina Ergas
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Metabolic Rift ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
History Of ◽  
Autonomous Development

The prevailing notion of sustainable development has remained ineffective at reducing environmental degradation and social inequalities. The chapter argues that sustainable development, as it has been conceived, is actually a shell game for creating neocolonial dependency in the developing world rather than more sustainable, self-sufficient nations. This chapter explains the history of colonization and urbanization, contextualizing the problem of weak, neoliberal, sustainable development using social science environmental theories, such as climate denialism, ecofeminism, environmental justice, metabolic rift, and treadmill of production. It then provides an alternative, a radical sustainability that is at once socially and ecologically egalitarian, or transformative, and restores the health of people and the planet, or regenerative. These cases are presented as alternatives to sustainable development and as examples of radical sustainability and self-sufficient, autonomous development.

scholarly journals Ecological Modernization and the Global Economy

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur P. J. Mol
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
The World ◽  
Treadmill Of Production ◽  
Countervailing Powers ◽  
Environmental Reform

This paper explores what an ecological modernization perspective has to offer in an era marked by globalization. Globalization processes and dynamics are mostly seen as detrimental to the environment. The point that an ecological modernization perspective puts on the research agenda is that, although global capitalism has not been beaten and continues to show its devastating environmental effects in all corners of the world, we are moving beyond the era of a global treadmill of production that only further degrades the environment. More or less powerful, reflexive, countervailing powers are beginning to move towards environmental reform. And these powers are no longer limited to a small environmental movement that only reacts to the constant undermining of society's sustenance base. In analyzing these countervailing forces, the paper also explores the consequences of globalization processes for ecological modernization ideas and perspectives.

scholarly journals Environmental Concern in a Capitalist Economy: Climate Change Perception Among U.S. Specialty-Crop Producers

2020 ◽  
pp. 108602661989754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yetkin Borlu ◽  
Leland Glenna
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Specialty Crop ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Treadmill Of Production

The agricultural sector offers a unique opportunity to examine the topic of climate change because agriculture is more susceptible to climate disruptions than many other industrial sectors. Based on the analysis of the survey data and in-depth interviews with specialty-crop producers in California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, we test the capacity of ecological modernization and treadmill of production perspectives to explain how resource-intensive producers recognize water availability and climate change as threats to their operation’s economic viability. We find that producers in capitalist markets recognize natural resource problems; however, they fail to respond to climate change beyond natural resource problems. We also find that local markets play a positive role in raising environmental awareness of producers. Finally, our finding on the association between the perceptions of water availability and climate change goes beyond the treadmill of production dualism that only theorizes the impacts of economic factors on the environment.

scholarly journals The Intersection of Race, Immigration Status, and Environmental Justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3942 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pellow ◽  
Jasmine Vazin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Immigrant Detention

Environmental injustice occurs when marginalized groups face disproportionate environmental impacts from a range of threats. Environmental racism is a particular form of environmental injustice and frequently includes the implementation of policies, regulations, or institutional practices that target communities of color for undesirable waste sites, zoning, and industry. One example of how the United States federal and state governments are currently practicing environmental racism is in the form of building and maintaining toxic prisons and immigrant detention prisons, where people of color and undocumented persons are the majority of inmates and detainees who suffer disproportionate health risk and harms. This article discusses the historical and contemporary conditions that have shaped the present political landscape of racial and immigration conflicts and considers those dynamics in the context of the literature on environmental justice. Case studies are then presented to highlight specific locations and instances that exemplify environmental injustice and racism in the carceral sector. The article concludes with an analysis of the current political drivers and motivations contributing to these risks and injustices, and ends with a discussion of the scale and depth of analysis required to alleviate these impacts in the future, which might contribute to greater sustainability among the communities affected.

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