Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene : From (Un)Just Presents to Just Futures

Through various international case studies presented by both practitioners and scholars, Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene explores how an environmental justice approach is necessary for reflections on inequality in the Anthropocene and for forging societal transitions toward a more just and sustainable future. Environmental justice is a central component of sustainability politics during the Anthropocene – the current geological age in which human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Every aspect of sustainability politics requires a close analysis of equity implications, including problematizing the notion that humans as a collective are equally responsible for ushering in this new epoch. Environmental justice provides us with the tools to critically investigate the drivers and characteristics of this era and the debates over the inequitable outcomes of the Anthropocene for historically marginalized peoples. The contributors to this volume focus on a critical approach to power and issues of environmental injustice across time, space, and context, drawing from twelve national contexts: Austria, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Nicaragua, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Tanzania, and the United States. Beyond highlighting injustices, the volume highlights forward-facing efforts at building just transitions, with a goal of identifying practical steps to connect theory and movement and envision an environmentally and ecologically just future. This interdisciplinary work will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners focused on conservation, environmental politics and governance, environmental and earth sciences, environmental sociology, environment and planning, environmental justice, and global sustainability and governance. It will also be of interest to social and environmental justice advocates and activists. Cover Endorsement Page Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Editors Contributors Foreword Preface: Environmental justice in the Anthropocene Part I Thinking on the Anthropocence Introduction: Just Anthropocene? Chapter 1 Examining the Anthropocene: A contested term in capitalist times Chapter 2 The selective invisibility of oil and climate injustice in the Anthropocene and beyond Part II Environmental justice as spatial justice Introduction: Contextualizing spatial justice Chapter 3 Environmental justice and autocracy in Eastern Europe: The case of Hungary Chapter 4 Navigating environmental justice in Chile: The case of Pascua Lama Chapter 5 Towards socio-ecological inclusion: Scaling up housing innovation in Vienna Chapter 6 From water insecurity to water injustice: How tourism produces environmental injustice along Nicaragua’s “Emerald Coast” Chapter 7 Jatropha bioenergy in Yucatán, Mexico: An examination of energy justice Chapter 8 Keeping it local: The continued relevance of place-based studies for environmental justice research and praxis Chapter 9 Determinants of household electricity consumption in Mexico by income level Chapter 10 Environmental justice and the Sabal Trail pipeline Chapter 11 Injustices in implementing donor-funded climate change resilience projects in Bangladesh: North–South dichotomy? Part III Just transitions Introduction: Pursuing just transitions: growing from seed to blossom Chapter 12 Just energy systems: Five questions and countless responses for regenerative energy communities Chapter 13 Authoritarian environmentalism as just transition?: A critical environmental justice examination of state environmental intervention in northwestern China Chapter 14 Lessons from Tanzanian forest management: Justice in environmental and climate policy transitions Chapter 15 Is renewable power reaching the people and are people reaching the power?: Creating a Just Transition from the ground-up Chapter 16 Contested suburban mobilities: Towards a sustainable urbanism of justice and difference Chapter 17 Seeds, chemicals, and stuff: The agency of things in (un)just agriculture regimes Chapter 18 “To have a garden is against this system”: The revolutionary subjectivity of convivial labor for home kitchen gardeners in San José, CA Part IV Just futures Introduction: Looking forward: challenges and opportunities for a just future Chapter 19 Enhancing environmental and cultural justice outcomes under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act Chapter 20 One earth, one species history, and one future: Earth-Justice in the Anthropocene Chapter 21 A framework for intergenerational justice: Objections and principles Chapter 22 Conditional freedom: A governance innovation for climate justice Chapter 23 “Building the Bigger We” for climate justice Conclusion: The quest for environmental justice Index "Through various international case studies presented by both practitioners and scholars, Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene explores how an environmental justice approach is necessary for reflections on inequality in the Anthropocene and for forging societal transitions toward a more just and sustainable future. Environmental justice is a central component of sustainability politics during the Anthropocene - the current geological age in which human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Every aspect of sustainability politics requires a close analysis of equity implications, including problematizing the notion that humans as a collective are equally responsible for ushering in this new epoch. Environmental justice provides us with the tools to critically investigate the drivers and characteristics of this era and the debates over the inequitable outcomes of the Anthropocene for historically marginalized peoples. The contributors to this volume focus on a critical approach to power and issues of environmental injustice across time, space, and context-drawing from twelve national contexts: Austria, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Nicaragua, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Tanzania, and the United States. Beyond highlighting injustices, the volume highlights forward-facing efforts at building just transitions, with a goal of identifying practical steps to connect theory and movement and envision an environmentally and ecologically just future. This interdisciplinary work will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners focused on conservation, environmental politics and governance, environmental and earth sciences, environmental sociology, environment and planning, environmental justice and global sustainability and governance. It will also be of interest to social and environmental justice advocates and activists"-- Provided by publisher