Environmental justice movement

Résumé du document

Broadcasted in 2000, Erin Brockovich could be a great illustration of the "environmental justice movement". Indeed, while no one takes her seriously, a young woman begins to investigate a suspicious case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. She discovers that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn, poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would get her involved in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation. The environmental justice movement has emerged over the last two decades as a result of increased awareness of the disproportionately high impacts of environmental pollution on economically and politically disadvantaged communities. It was the product of the intersection between the civil rights and environmental movements. The movement brought together issues of social, economic, and political marginalization of minorities and low-income communities, and concerns over pollution hazards in neighbourhoods and in the workplace.

Extraits

[...] Then, after having gathered themselves into a concrete action group (CTCAG), a prompt, respectful and unbiased hearing must be reached in order to raise their claims to the public scene. Media play a leading role in beaming conferences and marches. Democratic participation is also a step to solidarity: local movement could rely on national ones to become more visible, more influent. Pragmatism and moral are also involved in environmental justice frame. Finally, a right to compensation is demanded on behalf of justice. [...]

[...] LULUs tend to be located in those regions that are already physically remote in terms of “distance or accessibility from metropolitan centers”, economically and politically uncontrolled on the local level, but on the contrary, manipulated by a wider world. Moreover, those communities are already associated with polluting and risk creating industrial activities. Then, we observe an environmental racism that is triggered off by those characteristics. The consequence is that these marginal areas may bear a disproportionate share of the burden of environmental degradation or risk resulting from industrial processes. Furthermore, they depends on their neighbor regions that have the capacities to resist LULU's. [...]

[...] First of all, Stella Capek offers us a concrete frame to environmental justice movement as a claims-making activity. Then, Blowers and Leroy focus on the concept of peripheralisation in order to denounce environmental racism that, in turn, gives birth to environmental justice demand. I. Framing environmental justice: the background of an uprising movement To begin with, Capek chooses to define environmental justice that is seen as the fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (as defined by the EPA). [...]

[...] Conclusion Environmental justice movement thus supposes auspicious conditions to upraise. From traditional movements' tools to avoiding the process of peripheralisation, not only social actors have to cope with environmental hazards but they also have to struggle against institutions, economic and political trends that threaten their movements. Environmental justice is a demand that must be answered, insofar as inequalities, included in environmental sphere are unfair and unlawful. Both analyses may be extended into an international scale. Indeed, Blowers and Leroy point out that process of dominance and dependence or power and powerlessness which characterizes the process of peripheralisation at sub-national levels can also be perceived at an international level”. [...]

[...] Hence, environmental racism is a perverse spiral that makes the gap between center and peripherals deeper, both over space and time, all the more so as the peripheral region may always be pushed back to other peripheral areas. However, the three cases that are presented by the authors demonstrate that coalitions could reactivate patterns of integration and highlight the intensity and effectiveness of local mobilization, organization and participation, besides differences in success. Incidentally, the success rests not only on the governmental influence but also on the weakness of the company. Besides, compensation should be implemented in order to alleviate peripheral regions from their dreadful destiny. [...]