Spaces of Environmental Justice

by Holifield, Ryan; Porter, Michael; Walker, Gordon

• ISBN13: 9781444322767
• ISBN10: 1444322761
• Edition: 1st
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2010-08-17
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

In this cutting-edge volume, leading scholars examine a diverse range of environmental inequalities from around the world.

• Shows how far the field has moved beyond its original focus on uneven distributions of pollution in the USA 
• Considers the influence of critical geographical and social theory on environmental justice studies
• Examines a range of possibilities for future research directions
• Explores the challenges of investigating and pursuing environmental justice at a time of rapid economic and environmental change

Author Biography

Ryan Holifield is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. His research focuses on the nexus between social justice and urban sustainability, with a particular interest in dimensions of environmental justice and injustice in the process of hazardous waste site remediation and risk assessment.

Michael Porter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His research explores the discourses of brownfields and environmental justice in the context of urban socio-spatial change.

Gordon Walker is Chair of Environment, Risk and Justice in the Geography Division, Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University, UK. His research focuses on the social and spatial dimensions of environmental and risk issues. He has investigated patterns of various forms of environmental inequality in the UK (air quality, flood risk, waste, green space) and explored the meanings and geographies of environmental justice in different settings. Current research is focusing on the social and justice dimensions of energy technologies and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors.

Introduction.

1. Spaces of Environmental Justice: Frameworks for Critical Engagement (Ryan Holifield, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Michael Porter, City University of New York Graduate Centre; and Gordon Walker, Lancaster University).

Part I: Frameworks for Critical Environmental Justice Research.

1. Beyond Distribution and Proximity: Exploring the Multiple Spatialities of Environmental Justice (Gordon Walker, Lancaster University).

2. Actor-Network Theory as a Critical Approach to Environmental Justice: A Case against Synthesis with Urban Political Ecology (Ryan Holifield, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

3. Gendered Geographies of Environmental Justice (Susan Buckingham and Rakibe Kulcur both Brunel University).

4. Acknowledging the Racial State: An Agenda for Environmental Justice Research (Hilda Kurtz, University of Georgia).

Part II: Spaces for Critical Environmental Justice Research.

5. Digging Deep for Justice: A Radical Re-Imagination of the Artisanal Gold Mining Sector in Ghana (Petra Tschakert, The Pennsylvania State University).

6. Benevolent and Benign? Using Environmental Justice to Investigate Waste-Related Impacts of Ecotourism in Destination Communities (Zoë A. Meletis, University of Northern British Columbia and Lisa M. Campbell, Duke University).

7. Assembling Justice Spaces: The Scalar Politics of Environmental Justice in North-East England (Karen Bickerstaff, Durham University and Julian Agyeman, Tufts University).

8. Defining and Contesting Environmental Justice: Socio-Natures and the Politics of Scale in the Delta (Julie Sze, Jonathan London, Fraser Shilling, Gerardo Gambirazzio, Trina Filan, and Mary Cadenasso all University of California-Davis).

Index.