Abstract
Since the 1970s, remote sensing has been used to monitor the environment, address national security concerns, and manage Earth resources within a market framework. However, environmental organizations can also utilize remote sensing data infrastructure to support oppositional narratives, legal processes, and direct action. We present a framework for the socio-technical practice of remote sensing in alliance with those communities and organizations that are struggling for environmental justice on the global commodity frontiers. Positioned at the intersection of critical geography and political ecology, we examine the ways that critical remote sensing has been adopted in five major types of environmental conflict: struggles opposing fossil fuel exploitation, timber extraction, intensive food production, water management practices, and the effects of mining. We present a baseline inventory of remote sensing resources that are useful to the five conflict types and are freely accessible online. A global perspective on the planetary environmental crisis is essential, and we suggest that remote sensing practitioners can, through workshops or online tutorials, help environmental justice organizations towards independent use of remote sensing data. The local communities should then determine whether remote sensing products can contribute to their struggles.
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
