Rivers of Justice? River Restoration as Environmental Justice
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Keywords: Environmental Justice, River Restoration, Dam Removal, Socio-Ecological Systems
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Francis J. Magilligan, Dartmouth College
Coleen A. Fox, Dartmouth College
Chris S. Sneddon, Dartmouth College
Alexandra L Bramsen, Dartmouth College
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Abstract
As Robert Bullard wrote in his now classic monograph “Dumping in Dixie”, access to clean water is a major part of the environmental justice (EJ) movement. Research linking water and environmental justice frequently centers on water quality. Rarely does this research address broader-scale questions of engendering healthy and ecologically intact waterways that promote environmental justice. However, these omissions are less common as a range of communities, federal agencies, and local activists throughout the US polity are working to simultaneously restore rivers and communities under the rubric of environmental justice. Employing social justice theory that differentiates procedural, distributive, and restorative modes of justice, this paper analyzes the ongoing struggles of communities in the US to improve not only riverine health but also the health of riverine communities long marginalized on the basis of race, ethnicity, and/or socio-economic status. We survey the literature of existing restoration projects along with detailed case studies to highlight the intersection of river restoration and EJ in the US. Our questions include: (a) In what ways are discourses about EJ shaping/affecting river restoration projects; (b) What are the key institutional, regulatory, and cultural/social characteristics/drivers of sites of restoration where issues of EJ are included; and (c) How do the various elements of EJ (distributive, procedural, restorative justice) manifest (or get neglected) in on-going restoration projects? This research builds on the core themes of the interdisciplinary fields of political ecology and EJ that highlights the institutional and historical dimensions of environmental racism and economic marginalization.
Rivers of Justice? River Restoration as Environmental Justice
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Paper Abstract