Bringing environmental justice to the centre of environmental law research: developing a collective case study methodology

Abstract

Drawing on classic studies of environmental justice, as well as our smaller scale experience of using case studies to research environmental assessment and the protection of open green spaces, we suggest that collective case studies (also known as multisite or multiple case studies) offer an opportunity to map out and realise common concerns and losses and the similar experiences of legal hurdles and challenges on the part of geographically disparate local communities. The collective nature of these studies helps to build up a picture of environmental injustices across different, but related, cases and are capable of revealing broad discriminatory and unfair practices in environmental decision making which may form part of a pattern of experiencing discrimination and lack of influence and participation in decision making extending beyond the specifics of a particular site, environmental conflict or legal dispute. In this respect, the development of collective case studies provides a method of research practice but may also contribute to the generation or development of theories of environmental justice, crossing the line between specificity/context of experience in a locality and generality/unity of theory.