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Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) and politics are common themes in environmental justice. However, insights garnered from the experience of the global north cannot be applied directly to the global south since local processes shape unique landscapes of waste. To this end, my fieldwork in Oaxaca de Juarez, a rapidly urbanizing city in southern Mexico, concentrates on the history and politics of MSWM in the area. Here, the livelihood struggles of local neighborhoods are imbricated with the management of the existing official municipal dump. I argue that it is the marginality of these neighborhoods, both physical and social, that makes it possible for them to block the flow of municipal trash and so reveal it to visitors, residents, and politicians. This case presents a reworking of traditional concepts of environmental justice by examining the contradictory processes of abjection and political activism particular to the global south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses environmental law enforcement in Mexico and ways constitutional entrenchment could mitigate conflicts and poverty in resource-rich African countries. According to the author, environmental law enforcement in Mexico can be very problematic. Laws are inefficient, complicated and incomplete. Officials are not prepared to enforce them so they ignore them because they do not receive enough preparation, skills or training in enforcing them. Meanwhile, to mitigate conflicts and poverty in African countries, the parliament should ensure rigorousness in ensuring accountability and transparency as well as determination of standards for promotion of socio-economic development. These conditions should be entrenched in the national constitution to ensure stability.