Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
they are ill equipped to address (Adger et al. 2006; Anguelovski and
Roberts, chapter 2, this volume).
The increasing distance between those who benefi t and those who
must contend with the environmental, health, economic, and social
impacts of remote demand is intertwined with the rise of spatial inequi-
ties due to global economic, social, and political institutions. Over the
years, science and technology have resulted in innovations that have
improved and become synonymous with a desired quality of human
life. Despite the advances they offer, many new products and processes
have been accompanied by a host of new environmental and health risks
that can be attributed to the exportation of production, the transport
of products, and the disposal of toxic wastes to remote locations
(Beck 1992).
Environmental inequalities tend to be understood and addressed in
ways that refl ect one of two distinct theoretical views. The proactive
efforts of corporations, as well as those of many governments and some
nongovernmental organizations, often are rooted in the view that eco-
nomic growth and ecological conservation are compatible. From this
perspective, known as
ecological modernization
(Mol 1995), environ-
mental reforms through advances in science and technology make it
possible to address risks, and therefore to continue to pursue economic
development without altering consumption and other forms of demand
(Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000). In this way, some states and corporations
have taken the initiative to engage in what they believe to be more
environmentally and socially responsible behavior. However, as the view
known as the
treadmill of production
suggests, the desire for profi tability
and the aims of economic and political elites often take precedence over
social and environmental considerations (Schnaiberg 1980; Gould,
Schnaiberg, and Weinberg 1996).
Rather than seek to explain consumption and demand, and its relation-
ship to production and risk, much environmental justice scholarship
places equity and equality, as well as community capacity, connectivity,
and resilience, at the heart of its analysis (e.g., Blowers 2003; Pellow
2007). However, the presence of the global spatial disconnect, which is a
manifestation of spatial injustice, also gives rise to a new set of questions
and issues that form our point of departure in this topic. In particular, we
consider the ways that global production and consumption entrench exist-
ing wealth and power dynamics, whether international institutions and
emerging governance structures live up to their promise of promoting
equity, and the types of institutions, networks, and governance measures
