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By utilising a relatively underused framework developed by Maurie J. Cohen (1997. Risk society and ecological modernisation alternative visions for post-industrial nations.Futures, 29 (2), 105–119), this theoretical paper joins two of the most debated theories of environmental politics – ecological modernisation (EM) and Ulrich Beck’s risk society thesis – into a unified framework and problematises some of their implicit assumptions to theoretically introduce the notion of a “double-risk” society. In addition, it explains the differences between the traditional “Risk Society” theorised by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck and the newly introduced concept of a “double-risk” society. The arguments put forward in this paper provide some fresh perspectives facilitating the study of the techno-environmental risks and other ecological problems faced by “double-risk” societies. Theoretically, this paper adds to both EM theory and the risk society thesis as the generalisability of their existing versions is limited precisely because they fail to address some important social changes at the global structural level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The literature on civic environmentalism suggests that the environmental decision-making process must be perceived by citizens to be inclusive, transparent, and legitimate in order to avoid conflict and encourage stakeholder collaboration. We suggest that studies of environmental decision-making must apply this framework to three key variables: agenda setting, conflicts of interest, and politicised institutions, which impact the potential for citizen collaboration at the local level. Using content analysis of newspaper articles, participant observations, and informal field interviews, we evaluate a case study of citizen opposition to a power plant air permit. We demonstrate how citizen perceptions of agenda setting by local officials, conflicts of interest, and the inability of citizens to affect final decisions after winning in multiple legal and administrative venues, creates conflict by not embodying these civic environmentalist principles. We conclude with policy suggestions for creating a less conflict-riddled process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this article is to evaluate public participation as a driver of sustainable urban governance. This study deals at a theoretical level with a relational view of urban sustainability, conceived as a multidimensional process determined by the socio-ecological interconnections that modify the local environment. It observes these interconnections in the practice of urban governance, presenting an ethnographic investigation of the case of theIguaçu Project, in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region. The analysis provides two levels of results: the micro-level (the participatory process) and the macro-level (the public environmental policy). At the micro-level, the research shows the capacity of participatory arenas to enhance relations between citizens and the environment. At the macro-level, it highlights the existence of concurrent policy mechanisms in the same local environment, which undermines the results of public participation. The conclusion stresses apoliticised organisationof the public engagement process so that local environmental governance achieves sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this article is to reflect upon the motivations and the outcomes of the socio-political conflicts which attempted to challenge the rationality of conservation in the Galápagos Islands, in light of recent inquiries into the post-political condition. Protected areas, we argue, are paradigmatic examples of post-political spaces where universal moral imperatives and the overwhelming role of scientific knowledge reduce the possibility for disagreement, and make traditional political means useless. In order to sustain this argument, we discuss the idea of a post-political condition in relation to the debates about biodiversity, social justice and the political ecology of protected areas in the Global South. We will see how the alliance between conservation science, the State and the tourism industry strongly influenced the territorialisation of the Galápagos Islands and what the political implications are. Such alliances became the object of violent confrontations during the 1990s, which favoured the adoption of reforms inspired by the principles of sustainability and environmental governance. The idea of a post-political condition, in our opinion, can help to understand the outcome of these conflicts and, more generally, the difficulties in reconciling environmentalism with social justice in protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International obligations in nature conservation policy demand for decentralisation and co-management. Co-management arrangements are increasingly seen as forms of governance, which opens up for the critique that accountability becomes blurred when public-private relations are characterised by informality and negotiations. The purpose of this article is to examine the issue of accountability by comparing co-management theory and the decentralisation framework of Agrawal and Ribot, and by empirically analysing the designation of Fulufjallet National Park. This case constitutes a blueprint for Swedish efforts to adhere to the international obligations for decentralisation and is thus an example of their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban aspects of local food systems, such as farmers' markets, provide an opportunity for city residents to “do” environmentalism within their own home places. What environmentalism is and how to do it, however, vary greatly with the social location of the population involved. This paper investigates the social construction of the environment through participant-observation research at two urban farmers' markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. In one farmers' market, located in a largely affluent and white neighbourhood, locally grown organic food becomes a symbol through which urban eaters can connect to wild nature. This framing provides an urban corollary to the wilderness narrative that dominates the US environmental movement. In another case, located in a low-income area, the farmers' market's largely African-American managers and vendors liken the farmers' market to environmental justice efforts. By constructing the environment as the places where the customers it targets “live, work and play”, this farmers' market emphasises race and inequality, rather than traditional environmental concerns. Both farmers' markets, however, do to some degree engage both ecology and equity in their discourses and actions. Given the importance of meaning-centred tensions to conflicts between the environmental justice and reform environmental movements, my analysis has important implications for the development of a paradigm that attends to both ecological sustainability and social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the concept of environmental racialization to account for how race is socially and spatially organized in large Canadian cities. Drawing on a theoretical analysis of the notion of intentionality as conceived in environmental justice literature, the argument is made that claims of environmental racism must include direct a connection between agent's subjective racist intent and the powerful racist outcomes. In contrast, environmental racialization recognizes that agents' intentional actions can result in unpurposeful racist outcomes, even if these outcomes are systemic. The case study of the community of Mid-Scarborough in Toronto illustrates the relevance of the concept of environment racialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that salmon aquaculture operations situated in First Nations' claimed territories on Canada's West Coast create issues of environmental injustice. Salmon farms are associated with various environmental problems including pollution of the aquatic environment, risks to wild salmon, and food safety issues. These environmental problems constitute issues of environmental injustice due to the disproportionate, and different, impacts they have on coastal First Nations in comparison with other Canadians. The paper draws on material from several reviews of British Columbian (BC) salmon aquaculture to analyse coastal BC First Nations' claims and concerns about salmon farming along three environmental justice dimensions: distribution, participation and recognition. Qualitative evidence is obtained suggesting that coastal First Nations face disproportionate health risks from salmon farms, are excluded from decision-making processes with respect to the farms, and feel that their worldviews, identities, and ways of life are both ignored and at risk from the farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the environmental justice movement in relation to Canada and the United States. Canada has a very limited amount of environmental justice research as opposed to the United States, which has been practicing the policy for thirty years. Because of differences in urban geography, racial dynamics, the history of resource development, multiculturalism, and social policies, American environmental justice research is not useful for Canadian researchers. The author details the necessity for Canadians to begin their own environmental justice programs.

Much of the work completed thus far on environmental justice has focused on environmental issues that unfairly affect politically disenfranchised communities in the US. The farm crisis occurring across the Canadian Prairies is at a fundamental level, also a matter of social and environmental justice. Environmental justice, in an agricultural context, refers not only to the siting and operation of intensive livestock facilities but more broadly relates to the concerns of many about the contemporary reorganization of agriculture. Using a case study of recent developments in plant breeding and seed production, I will discuss some of the broad trends occurring across the Canadian prairies in agriculture and rural areas as issues of environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have survived Canada's assault on our identity and our rights ... Our survival is a testament to our determination and will to survive as a people. We are prepared to participate in Canada's future - but only on the terms that we believe to be our rightful heritage. Wallace Labillois, Council of Elders, Kingsclear, New Brunswick This paper argues for a strengthening of the theoretical relationship between neo-liberalism and environmental justice. Empirical research involving First Nations communities in southwestern Ontario suggests that neo-liberal reforms introduced in the mid-1990s were particularly discriminatory against Canada's indigenous peoples, serving to exacerbate historical disparities in health, environment pollution, and well-being. In particular, under neo-liberal reform in Ontario, recognition of environmental injustices has become much more difficult for First Nations communities. Furthermore, this 'new' form of environmental governance has broadly reduced legitimate opportunities for First Nations to participate in environmental governance that affects their health and welfare. In short, this research supports a widening of the definition of environmental justice advocated by David Schlosberg and others (Environmental Politics, 13(3) (2004), pp. 517-540; Agyeman, Bullard and Evans 2003; Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, Research Advisory committee 1997; Di Chiro 1998) if we are to understand the subtle, complex and multiple ways that this new form of environmental governance is particularly harmful to marginalized groups, such as First Nations in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging with dialogue concerning the relevance and applicability of social capital to a model of sustainable community development, we illustrate an in-depth case of a community experiencing an ideological clash with the dominant politico-societal structures. We argue that while the exclusivity of bonding social capital has been described as the 'dark side', it may be essential for progressive sustainable community development (PSCD). When faced with a development threat, such bonds are essential for building links, bridges and solidarity, enabling cultural reproduction and promoting environmental protection for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates environmental justice issues in St James Parish, Louisiana. This parish is located along an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River which hosts over 100 chemical, petrochemical, refining and industrial plants and is often referred to as ‘Cancer Alley’. With the use of geographic information system (GIS) mapping, it was found that polluting industries are located in the sections of the parish that have the highest percentages of African Americans, the lowest average household income and the most residents without a high school diploma. It was also found that the areas of the parish that have the highest percentage of residents who are employed in the manufacturing industry tend to be the wealthiest in the parish, have the least number of African American residents and have the most residents with the highest levels of education. Second, the levels and types of community advocacy that have occurred in response to the pollution and disproportionate environmental impacts in the parish are evaluated to find the most effective course of action. This study concludes that the most successful way that threatened communities can respond to environmental injustices is to take the initiative to solve the problem, connect with larger groups that have expertise, educate the public, and obtain legal representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a national project investigating Australian local government (LG) attempts to deliver beneficial environmental outcomes. It briefly describes the extensive environmental planning, management and protection roles played by Australian LGs. It notes that these roles are poorly documented within the academic literature, and makes a case for fundamental research to better understand LGs and their work from the inside. It describes this project's use of grounded theory methods in gathering and analysing 34 case studies of Australian LG environmental initiatives. The inside perspectives represented by the papers show that Australian LG environmental work: extends beyond its statutory requirements;is novel and creative;endures by balancing ecological, social and economic values;demonstrates different patterns depending on its planning, management or protection focus; andusually involves environmental strategists with long-term, passionate commitments to local environmental values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines community based participatory research from the viewpoint of the author, a doctoral student seeking to understand the concepts and framework of successful participatory research as a complement to traditional discipline driven research. Challenges and progress of CBPR within academia are examined, including acceptance, funding, training, and development of equal partnerships between university researchers and communities. Case studies (Latowsky, 2003; Ammerman et al., 2003; Stratford et al., 2003) focus on CBPR in different environmental justice communities, revealing the need to foster trust and communication in order to execute culturally competent and relevant research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a primer on the emerging role for Information Technology (IT) in the Environmental Justice (EJ) movement. It explores current and potential uses of IT by EJ organisations fighting to protect vulnerable local environments and it addresses some of the barriers to more widespread movement efficacy via e-advocacy. We argue a chief but not insurmountable barrier is the disproportionate access to, and knowledge of, the benefits of using IT in the struggle for equitable decisions about environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study with residents living in six deprived neighbourhoods in the UK and the front-line workers and local policymakers responsible for the renewal of these areas. The study was an attempt to raise awareness of local environmental concerns in the context of a national and local policy agenda, which has, until recently, largely overlooked the impacts of degraded environments on the lives and activities of the people who live in them. A key aim for the study was to raise people's concerns with local decision-makers and examine how far these might be addressed through the existing financial, administrative and legislative arrangements for neighbourhood renewal in the UK, namely Local Strategic Partnerships. The research was designed to provide practical lessons and policy recommendations for others wishing to raise the profile of environmental justice in the context of neighbourhood level regeneration projects, in both the UK and elsewhere in the ‘developed’ world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces papers which examined how much progress the concept of environmental justice has made in Great Britain. From being outside mainstream environmental agendas, concepts of environmental equity and justice now occupy a central position in government policy and have been the subject to growing research scrutiny. Drawing on papers first presented in a dedicated session on environmental justice organized by the Planning and Environment Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers at the International Geographical Congress, held in Glasgow in August 2004, the issue provides an opportunity to explore and reflect upon the recent development of environmental justice concerns in the country. The concept of environmental justice was first popularized and politicized by the emergence of the environmental justice movement, and the increasing space for political and legal contestation of claimed environmental injustices, in the U.S. In Great Britain, the concept has taken a different path, increasingly seen as a means of reconciling the sustainable development agenda with that of social justice.

Environmental justice arguments focused on improving the quality of life of the poor contend that environmental ‘bads’ are more often located in areas of social disadvantage. In relation to waste facilities such claims of distributional outcomes have been enhanced by epidemiological analyses of apparent disease clusters in the vicinity. While politically engaging these arguments have been supported rarely by robust evidence. However, if repositioned in more structural issues related to the unequal societal distribution of power, resources and environmental burdens, they do prompt questions about the processes by which equitable decisions are made in a sustainable waste management context. The paper discusses the scientific and institutional barriers affecting the effective balancing of equity issues, arguing that while deliberative processes potentially challenge ‘expert black-boxing’ they also challenge current political and regulatory structures for waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of government environmental policies are often distributed inequitably, and can therefore be viewed as a form of social injustice. This is particularly the case with protected conservation sites, which are often concentrated in remote areas. While this policy allows environmental 'goods' to accrue to society as a whole, it often has negative impacts on local users, who have limited opportunities to influence policy. This paper reports on research undertaken in northern Scotland, where the extensive use of protective designations to conserve an internationally important 'wilderness' area led to serious conflict during the 1980s. The findings, based on semi-structured interviews, indicate that local stakeholders often felt powerless in the face of remote decision making, and environmental publicity aimed at an urban market. The problems of environmentalism that is not linked to social justice are discussed in this context, and the role which sustainability and participative conservation efforts can play in the development of social and environmental justice is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with debates over the implementation of sustainability objectives. In particular, it focuses on policies that address the 'value--action gap' in environmental policy. Using evidence from the author's research connected with the UK Going for Green Sustainable Communities Project in Huntingdonshire, the paper highlights the tensions between national policies that are based on an 'information deficit' model of participation, and local research and experience that posits a more complex relationship between individuals and institutions. While this suggests the need to develop more differentiated policies based on the restructuring of socioeconomic and political institutions, the paper warns against knee-jerk calls for more local, community or public participation which simply replace one set of generalised appeals with another. The paper concludes that greater emphasis must be placed on the negotiation of partnerships that are more sensitive to local diversity, and which involve a more equitable distribution of responsibility between different environmental stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]