Abstract
Human society has always been deeply connected with natural ecosystems. However, in recent decades, this relationship has witnessed significant changes and tensions. There are many human-made factors by which our natural environment is being modified by the dominance of the human species, which has led to incalculable damage to natural ecosystems as well as human societies. The harm suffered by ecosystems is closely linked to the harm experienced by most of the marginalized communities across the planet. The lives and livelihoods of these marginalized communities have been threatened by these changes. In the long run, the impact of this damage is due to climate change, which affects all the species and humans across all social classes, ethnic groups, genders, abilities, and ages. The rise of green movement in the 1960s in the Global North and grassroots protests against the commercialization of the natural resources in the Global South helped to develop environmental consciousness and elevated the scholarly debate about environmental justice. In this context, this book is an excellent contribution to the field of environmental justice studies and calls for the debate to embrace greater interdisciplinarity. The author uses the term ‘critical environmental justice studies’ to call for scholarship that builds on research in environmental justice (EJ) studies by questioning assumptions and gaps in earlier work in the field and by moving towards methodologies and epistemologies including and beyond the social sciences. The book consists of five chapters, including three case studies: (1) the challenges of racist state violence and the Black Lives Matter movement; (2) the prison system in the United States; and (3) the Israel–Palestine conflict.
The first section of the book provides a brief overview of the emergence of environmental justice studies from the EJ movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States. These movements sought to openly integrate campaigns for justice on behalf of vulnerable human beings with the goal of ecological sustainability. This section defines environmental justice from different viewpoints and discusses a way towards critical environmental justice studies by addressing a number of important limitations and tensions within earlier generations of EJ studies. The book tries to develop a framework for critical environmental studies, which builds on and extends earlier generation EJ studies via four pillars: First, paying greater attention to how multiple social categories of difference are entangled in the production of, and challenges to, environmental injustice, including race, gender, sexuality, class, and species; second, embracing multiscalar methodological and theoretical approaches such as ecofeminism, political ecology, critical race theory, ethnic studies, the environmental humanities, and critical animal studies in order to build a more substantive understanding of the causes, consequences, and resolutions of EJ struggles. The third pillar takes the perspective that social inequalities are deeply embedded in society and are reinforced by state power. It suggests that transformative analyses and visions of environmental justice might see the need to function at some level beyond the state. The fourth and final pillar emphasizes the concept of indispensability, articulating the view that all humans and nonhumans are indispensable to the present day as well as for building a sustainable, just, and resilient future.
In the chapters containing the case studies, the above-mentioned framework is applied to show how humans and nonhuman natures are bound up in the struggle for environmental justice against myriad threats at multiple levels. Chapter 2 draws links among the most important questions, issues, insights, and demands that come out of the Black Lives Matter movement and the struggle against environmental racism. It is argued that although at first glance police brutality and environmental politics would appear to be only tangentially related, they are closely intertwined. The chapter explores some of the major questions such as how can the Black Lives Matter movement’s emphasis on police violence against African-American communities inform our understanding of the scourge of toxic chemicals, hazardous waste, pollution, and other ecological burdens facing those same communities? How can this oppression and repression inform efforts at intersectional, multi-issue movement building, coalition formation, and social change? The author tries to argue that the violation of black bodies and spaces by ecologically destructive agents produced by states and corporations can be seen as the same as the violation of those bodies by police and law enforcement agents. It can be considered environmental racism because these are state-sanctioned practices of violence and control over bodies, space, and knowledge systems of specific marginal communities.
Chapter 3 explores the relationship between the US prison system and environmental justice concerns. Until recently, few academics, activists, or government officials linked prisons to environmental issues or environmental justice. However, that changed in 2015 when the Prison Ecology Project was formed to investigate the links between the US prison system and environmental threats. It uncovered and highlighted several cases across the United States where ecosystems, nearby communities, and prisoners were placed at risk due to proposed prisons, construction, and routine operations. The chapter highlights cases related to prison labor and toxic and hazardous waste recycling/disposal in the United States. It analyzes the e-waste campaign like ‘Computer Take Back,’ and shows how some of the big computer corporations in association with prison industrial operators ran chains of recycling plants in the federal penitentiary system using cheap prison labor. Prison inmates reported that those who sought to improve conditions in the e-waste recycling facility faced discipline and the threat of job loss. In some places, inmates worked for US20¢ to US$1.26 per hour outside the protection of state and local environmental and labor regulations. The chapter also attempts to analyze campaigns concerning – and the regulation of – prison-related environmental injustices. Environmental injustice in prisons occurs because prison laborers are not classified as employees and therefore not protected by the federal laws that regulate the private sector. The chapter also briefly discusses the Prison Ecology Project and its work.
The third and last case study applies a critical EJ analysis to the Israel–Palestine conflict – one of the most intractable cases of religious, geopolitical, social, and environmental conflict in the world. The chapter shows that although the conflict is often described in ethnic and religious terms, environmental dimensions are central to the dispute. Land in particular has always been at the center of the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian Arab communities, both inside and outside of Israel. The Israel–Palestine conflict is a classic case where religion, ethnicity, and environmental justice concerns intersect because the State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and created a system of laws, policies, and practices that explicitly focused on making land and nonhuman natures available to Jews. The chapter calls for deepening our understanding of the ways that environmental injustice plays out in various contexts, including religious and ethnic issues. The concluding chapter summarizes the discussion presented earlier in the book and offers brief thoughts on how these cases intersect and the future of EJ scholarship and activism. It views that aside from the facts these conflicts reflect, the intersection of social inequality and environmental politics links these cases. It is also pointed out that across these issues the power of the state defines reality for humans and nonhumans, and manages, manipulates, and controls the ecosystems that support them. Therefore EJ studies must take the role of the state more seriously as a major obstacle to environmental justice. In addition, the author believes that the inseparability of humans from the nonhuman world must be at the center of critical EJ studies.
As stated above, the book provides a new theoretical framework for the study of environmental justice concerns through its analysis of the case studies. The book offers a radical new approach to EJ analysis and politics. It would certainly be very useful for scholars and activists interested in extending their field of inquiry and activism in a new direction, and will serve as a vital resource for academics, policy makers, and activists interested in innovative approaches to social and environmental justice concerns throughout the world.