Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Refl ections on Environmental Inequality
Beyond Borders
JoAnn Carmin and Julian Agyeman
The chapters in this topic draw on diverse international case studies to
illustrate how a globalized world is fundamentally altering the environ-
mental justice terrain. Traditional studies of environmental justice exam-
ined the ways inequalities are generated and resolved within domestic
contexts, paying particular attention to the distributional aspects of injus-
tice and the need for recognition and participation (Schlosberg 2007;
Schrader-Frechette 2002; Young 1990). More recently, scholars have
drawn on theories of multiple spatialities of environmental justice and of
multilevel governance and institutions (e.g., Walker 2010; Holifi eld,
Porter, and Walker 2010; Pellow 2000; Sze and London 2008; Walker and
Bulkeley 2006) to inform their assessments of the roots of environmental
inequalities. Rather than hone in on a single strand of environmental
justice scholarship, the authors in this topic integrate traditional and
emerging approaches. The result is that we not only learn how globaliza-
tion is expanding and amplifying spatial injustice, but gain greater insight
into the ways social, political, and economic institutions contribute to,
reinforce, and have the potential to address and prevent inequalities.
Patterns of Environmental Inequality
Many of the points raised in the chapters in this topic are aligned with
themes that have come to characterize environmental justice scholarship.
At the same time, the cases presented and arguments advanced extend
our understanding of patterns of environmental inequality along three
critical and interrelated dimensions. First, by taking global disparities as
a starting point, and unpacking the ways they play out on the ground,
many chapters offer nuanced perspectives on how inequalities within
countries, as well as between rich and poor nations, are becoming further
entrenched. While countries in the global South may benefi t from the
