environmental literacy: environmental justice joann carmin department of urban studies and planning...
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Environmental Literacy:Environmental Justice
JoAnn CarminDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Streams in Environmental Sociology
• Human-environment relationship• Risk perception and communication• Environmental movements and organizations• Corporate social responsibility• Environmental governance and policy• Environmental inequity and justice
Classic View of Environmental Injustice
Warren County, North Carolina
Photo: www.ncwarn.org/Campaigns/WarrenCounty/12-05-03WarrenCountyHistory.htm
Environmental Injustice
Group bears a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies (U.S. EPA, 1998)
Disproportionate Burden
• Exposed community did not generate problem• Exposed community receives marginal benefits• Exposed community bears environmental burden
Emerging Paradigm
• Classic– Local concerns and local inequities– Emphasis on race and class– Focus on US, but some consideration of international locales
• Emerging – Demand and consumption patterns in one part of the world
imposing a disproportionate environmental burden in distant regions
Source: Friends of the Earth International
Major Drivers of Disparities
• Demand for quality of life Consumption • Global dumping groups• GHGs & climate impacts
• Demand for goods Extraction• Mining• Bio-prospecting
• Demand for affordable goods/ profitability Workplace exposure
• Go tech! Go pork!
Coming Full Cycle
– Pressure from demand– Leads to government or corporate response– Causing unequal burden– That gives rise to public response
Constellation of Considerations
Environmental Justice
Environmental ImpactsHuman Health Impacts
Politics and Policy Stratification
Cultural Survival
Participation Mobilization
• Justice as Equitable Distribution– Theories of justice, political economy/ resource curse,
and globalization
• Justice as Recognition– Theories of identity, social stratification
• Justice as Procedure– Theories of public participation, participatory
governance, and collective action
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:Theory
Local, national, and global impacts associated with:– Technology development and transfer– Production processes, outsourcing, labor standards,
Consumption– Economic development and poverty alleviation
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:Environmental and Human Impacts
• International governance:– International treaties and judicial procedures
• National policy, planning, and development– Adoption of Aarhus Convention / Principle 10– Laws and judicial procedures– Market mechanisms– Institutional and stakeholder assessments– Social and environmental impact assessments– Participatory decision-making
• Corporate social responsibility– Voluntary programs, codes, and certification– Good Neighbor Agreements
Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy:Policy and Planning Tools
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