Environmental justice and harm to humans - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 37

Indiana which found that 'Because politics reflected the relative power
and divergent concerns of various groups within Gary, the cumulative
effect of environmental regulation was the movement of industrial
pollution towards neighbourhoods inhabited by minorities and the
poor, where resistance was weakest' (Hurley, 1995: 174). Thus, in the
moment that a 'universal' problem (that is, pollution) became contested
as a significant social issue, the solution was to make it into a 'particular'
problem for specific groups, communities and neighbourhoods. The
politics of place is intertwined with the politics of race, and class. One
outcome of this legacy of discriminatory waste disposal practices was
the environmental justice movement itself (see also Pellow, 2007).
The focus of the environmental justice movement is environmental
injustice. This is basically defined in terms of human health within the
context of specific environments.
Health is the main focus of the environmental justice
movement in the United States. Here, 'environment' is
generally defined as being where we live, work, play, worship,
and go to school, as well as the physical and natural world.
The World Health Organization defines health as 'a state of
complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just
the absence of disease or infirmity'. These definitions of
environment and health capture the essence of the struggles
for environmental justice being fought by communities
made up of people of color and low-income groups.
(Bullard, 2005a: 2)
The concept of environmental equity refers to attempts to reduce
environmental hazards, risks and harms for all sections of the human
population and all types of communities. It basically encapsulates a
concern with discrimination and efforts to ensure that no particular
community (especially those featuring people of colour and from low
incomes) is subject to disproportionate environmental disadvantage.
Research in this area has demonstrated not only inequalities related to
race and class, but also factors such as gender, disability and immigration
status (Agyeman and Carmin, 2011). There are many different categories
of vulnerable groups throughout the world, and notably indigenous
peoples and traditional cultures have been especially prone to bearing
the brunt of environmental burdens. Matters of social power and social
interests are intrinsic to consideration of justice and equity in relation
to the environment.