Virtual-Actual Symbiosis: Reclaiming Plant Subjectivity Through Cross-Cultural Ecological Aesthetics and Technological Critique

Climate change, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, species extinction—all of these issues point to one thing: environmental health is a global issue that concerns all nations of the world. Now add environmental justice to the list. From South Bronx to Soweto, from Penang to El Paso, communities all over the world are finding commonality in their experiences and goals in seeking environmental justice. Environmental justice was defined by Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, in his seminal 1990 work Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality as “the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations.” In countries around the world, the concept of environmental justice can apply to communities where those at a perceived disadvantage—whether due to their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, immigration status, lack of land ownership, geographic isolation, formal education, occupational characteristics, political power, gender, or other characteristics—puts them at disproportionate risk for being exposed to environmental hazards. At a global scale, environmental justice can also be applied to scenarios such as industrialized countries exporting their wastes to developing nations. In either case, “environmental and human rights have no boundaries, because pollution has no boundaries,” says Heeten Kalan, senior program officer of the Global Environmental Health and Justice Fund of the New World Foundation in New York City. “Environmental justice organizations are starting to understand that they are working in a global context.”

Author’s Introduction Over the last 25 years, the environmental justice movement has emerged from its earliest focus on US social movements combating environmental racism to an influential global phenomenon. Environmental justice research has also undergone spectacular growth and diffusion in the last two decades. From its earliest roots in sociology, the field is now firmly entrenched in several different academic disciplines including geography, urban planning, public health, law, ethnic studies, and public policy. Environmental justice refers simultaneously to a vibrant and growing academic research field, a system of social movements aimed at addressing various environmental and social inequalities, and public policies crafted to ameliorate conditions of environmental and social injustice. Academia is responding to this social problem by offering courses under various rubrics, such as ‘Race, Poverty and the Environment, Environmental Racism, Environmental Justice’, ‘Urban Planning, Public Health And Environmental Justice’, and so on. Courses on environmental justice offer students opportunities to critically and reflexively explore issues of race and racism, social inequality, social movements, public/environmental health, public policy and law, and intersections of science and policy. Integrating modules on environmental justice can help professors engage students in action research, service learning, and more broadly, critical pedagogy. This article offers an overview of the current state of the field and offers a range of resources for teaching concepts of environmental racism, inequality and injustice in the classroom. Author recommends Pellow, D. and R. Brulle 2005. Power, Justice and the Environment : a Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. The primary focus of this edited collection is to offer a ‘Critical Appraisal’ of the environmental justice movement. The articles in this book are strong, focused on broad areas of: critical assessment, new strategies, and the challenge of globalization. Downey, L. and B. Hawkins 2008. ‘Race, Income, and Environmental Inequality in the United States.’ Sociological Perspectives 51 : 759–81 . This article is an effective overview of the current sociological literature on environmental inequality using quantitative methods. L. Cole and S. Foster 2001. From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Ris of the Environmental Justice Movement. New York: New York University Press The primary focus of this book is an overview of the US Environmental Justice Movement. Unique in itself, the authors, an activist lawyer and law professor, offer a well‐written overview of the movement. Taylor, Dorceta E. 2000. ‘The Rise of the Environmental Justice Paradigm: Injustice Framing and the Social Construction of Environmental Discourses.’ American Behavioral Scientist 43 : 508–80. A leading environmental justice scholar discusses the issue of injustice framing. Morello‐Frosch, R. A. 2002. ‘Discrimination and the Political Economy of Environmental Inequality.’ Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 20(2002): 477–96. In a critique that focuses on the political economy of place, geography, and ethnic studies, Morello‐Frosch integrates relevant social and legal theories with a spatialized economic critique to formulate a more supple theory of environmental discrimination that focuses on historical patterns of industrial development and racialized labor markets, suburbanization and segregation, and economic restructuring. Pastor, Manuel, Rachel Morello‐Frosch, James Sadd, Carlos Porras and Michele Prichard 2005. ‘Citizens, Science, and Data Judo: Leveraging Secondary Data Analysis to Build a Community‐Academic Collaborative for Environmental Justice in Southern California,’ in Methods For Conducting Community‐Based Participatory Research For Health , edited by Barbara A. Israel, Eugenia Eng, Amy J. Schulz and Edith A. Parker. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Exemplary reflexive analysis of the power of research as intervention in environmental justice struggles. Online materials 25 stories from the Central Valley: http://twentyfive.ucdavis.edu Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/ US EPA Environmental Justice: http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/ Environmental Justice of Field Studies: University of Michigan: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/environmentaljusticefieldstudies/home Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment: http://www.crpe‐ej.org/ National Black Environmental Justice Network: http://www.nbejn.org/ Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative: http://www.ejcc.org/ Environmental Justice Project: http://ej.ucdavis.edu/ Sample syllabus Ethnic Studies 103: Environmental Racism Fall 2008 Instructor:

From the First National People of Color Congress on Environmental Leadership to WTO street protests of the new millennium, environmental justice activists have challenged the mainstream movement by linking social inequalities to the uneven distribution of environmental dangers. Grassroots movements in poor communities and communities of color strive to protect neighborhoods and worksites from environmental degradation and struggle to gain equal access to the natural resources that sustain their cultures. This book examines environmental justice in its social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions in both local and global contexts, with special attention paid to intersections of race, gender, and class inequality. The first book to link political studies, literary analysis, and teaching strategies, it offers a multivocal approach that combines perspectives from organizations such as the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and the International Indigenous Treaty Council with the insights of such notable scholars as Devon Pena, Giovanna Di Chiro, and Valerie Kuletz, and also includes a range of newer voices in the field. This collection approaches environmental justice concerns from diverse geographical, ethnic, and disciplinary perspectives, always viewing environmental issues as integral to problems of social inequality and oppression. It offers new case studies of native Alaskans' protests over radiation poisoning; Hispanos' struggles to protect their land and water rights; Pacific Islanders' resistance to nuclear weapons testing and nuclear waste storage; and the efforts of women employees of maquiladoras to obtain safer living and working environments along the U.S.-Mexican border. The selections also include cultural analyses of environmental justice arts, such as community art and greening projects in inner-city Baltimore, and literary analyses of writers such as Jimmy Santiago Baca, Linda Hogan, Barbara Neely, Nez Perce orators, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Karen Yamashita artists who address issues such as toxicity and cancer, lead poisoning of urban African American communities, and Native American struggles to remove dams and save salmon. The book closes with a section of essays that offer models to teachers hoping to incorporate these issues and texts into their classrooms. By combining this array of perspectives, this book makes the field of environmental justice more accessible to scholars, students, and concerned readers. CONTENTS Introduction: Environmental Justice Politics, Poetics, and Pedagogy / Joni Adamson, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel SteinEnvironmental Justice: A Roundtable Discussion with Simon Ortiz, Teresa Leal, Devon Pena, and Terrell Dixon / Joni Adamson and Rachel Stein Politics1. Testimonies from Doris Bradshaw, Sterling Gologergen, Edgar Mouton, Alberto Saldamando, and Paul Smith / Mei Mei Evans2. Throwing Rocks at the Sun: An Interview with Teresa Leal / Joni Adamson3. Endangered Landscapes and Disappearing Peoples? Identity, Place, and Community in Ecological Politics / Devon G. Pena4. Who Hears Their Cry? African American Women and the Fight for Environmental Justice in Memphis, Tennessee / Andrea Simpson5. Radiation, Tobacco, and Illness in Point Hope, Alaska: Approaches to the Facts in Contaminated Communities / Nelta Edwards6. The Movement for Environmental Justice in the Pacific Islands / Valerie Kuletz Poetics7. Toward an Environmental Justice Ecocriticism / T. V. Reed8. From Environmental Justice Literature to the Literature of Environmental Justice / Julie Sze9. and Environmental Justice / Mei Mei Evans10. Activism as Affirmation: Gender and Environmental Justice in Linda Hogan's Solar Storms and Barbara Neely's Blanche Cleans Up / Rachel Stein11. Some Live More Downstream than Others: Cancer, Gender, and Environmental Justice / Jim Tarter12. Struggle in Ogoniland: Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Justice / Susan Comfort13. Toward a Symbiosis of Ecology and Justice: Water and Land Conflicts in Frank Waters, John Nichols, and Jimmy Santiago Baca / Tom Lynch14. Saving the Salmon, Saving the People: Environmental Justice and Columbia River Tribal Literatures / Janis Johnson15. Sustaining the Urban Forest and Creating Landscapes of Hope: An Interview with Cinder Hypki and Bryant Spoon Smith / Giovanna Di Chiro Pedagogy16. Teaching for Transformation: Lessons from Environmental Justice / Robert Figueroa17. Notes on Cross-Border Environmental Justice Education / Soenke Zehle18. Changing the Nature of Environmental Studies: Teaching Environmental Justice to Mainstream Students / Steve Chase19. Teaching Literature of Environmental Justice in an Advanced Gender Studies Course / Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine

Environment and environmental justice is critical in social work education and practice as the global climate crisis has significant implications for human relationships with the natural and physical environment and ultimately human rights. This chapter considers rights-based and social justice principles and perspectives using an integrated social development approach for transforming systems that create injustices and inequities at a societal level that directly affect individual and community wellbeing. The chapter discusses the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development, and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. The role of social workers in promoting environmental justice through green social work is discussed, and two case studies from Pakistan and Jamaica illustrate the complex nature of environmental justice concerns. The social dimensions of extreme weather events and disasters and the value of social work practice are highlighted. The chapter concludes with an emphasis on international collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches that can inform social work practice in facilitating sustainable development and environmental justice.

Western and Chinese intellectual traditions are in many ways different from each other. In their studies on correlative thinking in the Chinese tradition, David Hall and Roger Ames argue that the different cosmological assumptions of European cultures on the one hand and the autochthonous philosophical traditions of China on the other are greatly significant and worthy of scholarly attention. The kind of differences Hall and Ames point out may cause a large number of scholars in both the West and China to doubt that the two traditions can be fully understandable to each other in their own categories. My personal experience is that the more understanding gain of the Western intellectual tradition, the more realize that the differences between it and the Chinese tradition are more numerous and run deeper than had previously thought. Some outstanding ideas of the great thinkers in the Western tradition sometimes do not make too much sense to me. (For example, even now still have difficulties in experiencing the well-known thesis of Descartes I think, therefore am as a kind of exciting philosophy.) In the meantime, some ideas of the great thinkers in Chinese tradition have been read and interpreted very differently by various people. realize more and more that in many cases the knowledge gained of the ideas of Western thinkers when was in China was either inaccurate or very different from what read in the English texts when was abroad. Thus have come to believe that while gaining a better understanding of the link between the two cultural traditions is possible, misunderstandings and pitfalls also seem difficult to avoid. Here, would like to draw my colleagues' attention to the possibility that as a historical phenomenon of civilized engagement since the turn of the last century, the Chinese conversation with Marxism in the West is no exception. Many Chinese intellectuals may have since then come to understand Marxism in Chinese terms; and in the meantime, a surprisingly large number of writers have come to believe that Chinese Marxism can be understood fully in terms of Western categories. Many writers for example Stuart Schram, Joseph Needham, and Nick Knight have said that there is something distinctly Chinese about Chinese Marxism, but have failed to make clear what this implies, in terms of both what makes Chinese Marxism distinct, and of how Chinese Marxism differs from the one of Marx or of later Marxists.

Free from borders and limits, languageless places are imagined in the Western tradition either as sub-human, nightmarish spaces of chaos or divine points of origin and destination. A good example of this phenomenon appears in the works of Hesiod, who will allow me to set up the relationship between cannibalism and poetic language. Recall that, in Hesiod’s Theogony, poetic language is itself presented as the medium through which the languageless past and future may be represented and ordered. Before they grant the gift of making poetry to shepherds, the muses call them “mere bellies”.1 But Hesiod tells what happened when the muses “breathed into me a divine voice to celebrate things that shall be and things that were aforetime.”2 It is through his transformation from a mere belly to a mortal with a divine voice that Hesiod captures the essence of the relationship between poetic language and the languageless place, whether it be the nearly divine Golden Age of the Works and Days or the hollow caves of the Theogony in which monstrous, hyper-animal creatures eat raw flesh. My paper explores the elemental passion for the languageless place in two distinct ways: 1) In the realm of representation, as an inherent feature of poetic language; and 2) Beyond the realm of representation, as an attribute of the psychopathological cannibal. By looking at the differences between represented and enacted desires for languagelessness, I hope to show how the figurative word, or what we might call poetic language, becomes the fragile marker of humanness. Poetic language in this sense comes to condense and reflect upon the central role that language in general plays in the psychical and intellectual fulfillment, as well as the social concord, of human beings.

This mini review critically examines the evolution and pedagogical transformation of the Bel Canto singing method within Chinese university music programs. While Bel Canto, rooted in Italian opera, has long symbolized vocal refinement, its integration into Chinese higher education raises complex questions of cultural translation, artistic authenticity, and pedagogical ownership. Drawing on empirical and theoretical studies published between 2020 and 2025, this paper synthesizes interdisciplinary perspectives spanning acoustic science, technological mediation, intercultural pedagogy, and decolonial music education. Findings reveal that Bel Canto’s adaptation in China extends beyond technical imitation to a transcultural process of negotiation. Digital tools such as AI and IoT technologies have enhanced vocal precision and feedback mechanisms, yet their value depends on educators’ capacity for ethical and culturally responsive application. Gender-sensitive and personality-oriented pedagogies further demonstrate the need for individualized, inclusive learning practices. The paper conceptualizes Bel Canto as a transcultural pedagogy of voice: a framework that interweaves embodied technique, dialogical culture, ethical reflexivity, and technological mediation. Through a micro–meso–macro analysis of classroom, institutional, and policy levels, the study proposes a model for culturally sustainable vocal education that bridges Western and Chinese traditions while fostering mutual enrichment rather than assimilation.

Западе является междисциплинарной и актуальна, в том числе, для лингвистов и психологов, но в предлагаемой статье акцент сделан на философский аспект. Рассматривается проблема различия построения рассуждений и базовых приоритетов, которые обусловлены китайском и западным типами рациональности. Даются основные характеристики китайской рациональности и анализируются преимущества и недостатки западной и китайской модели рассуждения применительно к различным сферам жизни. This article examines the differences in formal reasoning that stem from the polarity between Chinese and Western traditions. It outlines the key characteristics of Chinese rationality and analyzes the respective strengths and limitations of Chinese and Western models of reasoning as they apply to various domains of life. Culture is not a mere collection of individual values, rituals, or traditions; rather it consists of dynamic processes taking place in what is called ‘reality’. This article analyses major historical tendencies which shaped the way formal argumentation is constructed in both Western and Chinese traditions. In Western tradition the Greek philosophers - particularly Aristotle - were considered the etalon of formal reasoning. The laws of identity, non-contradiction, and the excluded middle remain deeply ingrained in Western intellectual tradition while deduction is widely regarded as a reliable method of cognition. By contrast, Chinese culture prioritized tradition and ethos which were shaped by Confucianism and survived to the current day with little change. For Chinese the main goal is not seeking the ultimate truth using the tools of formal logic but rather longing for harmony and moral perfection while keeping in mind practical feasibility. Unlike Europe, Chinese widely used reasoning by analogy while proof of contradiction was almost never used. Both Western and Chinese traditions have advantages and disadvantages. The ‘Western model’ gave rise to the modern science and technology. Chinese tradition - free from dualism - never opposes ratio and feelings. As the result, an individual is regarded as the major actor of culture - not the one who is egoistically isolated from the society but the one who is deeply imbedded into it. Such a world-view has a significant impact on Chinese society and helps it to consolidate around one idea and develop at an accelerated pace as we can currently observe.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice in African Cities

This article attempts to place Cree conceptions of reality on the same footing as both Western and Chinese traditions; drawing upon both oral and written sources, especially that of ceremonialist Wayne Roan, the Cree case is made for a concept of ‘the best place’ for understanding something, implying that rational thought itself has to be ‘placed’ in order to come to any conclusions. This introduces a different dimension into discussions in relation to the other two traditions, both of which appear to construct reality without relation to either physical or metaphysical ‘place’. However, other aspects of Cree conceptions do not differ that greatly from the Chinese understanding of reality.

As AI systems increasingly structure educational processes, they shape not only what is learned, but also how epistemic authority is distributed and whose knowledge is recognized. This article explores the normative and technopolitical implications of this development by examining two prominent paradigms in AI ethics: Ethical AI and Responsible AI. Although often treated as synonymous, these frameworks reflect distinct tensions between formal universalism and contextual responsiveness, between rule-based evaluation and governance-oriented design. Drawing on deontology, utilitarianism, responsibility ethics, contract theory, and the capability approach, the article analyzes the frictions that emerge when these frameworks are applied to algorithmically mediated education. The argument situates these tensions within broader philosophical debates on technological mediation, normative infrastructures, and the ethics of sociotechnical design. Through empirical examples such as algorithmic grading and AI-mediated admissions, the article shows how predictive systems embed values into optimization routines, thereby reshaping educational space and interpretive agency. In response, it develops the concept of situated ethics, emphasizing epistemic justice, learner autonomy, and democratic judgment as central criteria for evaluating educational AI. To clarify what is at stake, the article distinguishes adaptive learning optimization from education as a process of subject formation and democratic teaching objectives. Rather than viewing AI as an external tool, the article conceptualizes it as a co-constitutive actor within pedagogical practice. Ethical reflection must therefore be integrated into design, implementation, and institutional contexts from the outset. Accordingly, the article offers (1) a conceptual map of ethical paradigms, (2) a criteria-based evaluative lens, and (3) a practice-oriented diagnostic framework to guide situated ethics in educational AI. The paper ultimately argues for an approach that attends to the relational, political, and epistemic dimensions of AI systems in education.

Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health JusticeJasonCorburn. . Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health Justice. . 2005. . MIT Press. : Cambridge, MA. . ISBN: ISBN: 0-262-53272-7. . <b>$24</b>

Few studies link environmental and cultural justice. The USEPA reviews projects for environmental justice concerns to ensure underrepresented communities are not bearing an undue burden, but no process exists to evaluate cultural justice concerns. Cultural and environmental justice are inseparable issues linked in both the legal mechanisms protecting environmental and cultural resources and the potential for underrepresented communities to bear significant loss and potential erasure from the historic record. We use three case studies, the Tongue River Railroad Expansion, the Sarpy Mine Expansion, and the Dakota Access Pipeline Project to illustrate how variability in consultation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) contributes to justice successes and failures. These case studies illustrate that the connection between environmental and cultural justice is particularly important for Native Americans because of the density of energy resources within reservation boundaries and the historic power imbalance between federal agencies and tribal governments. This is a common conflict for Indigenous communities worldwide. We recommend the USEPA adopt a definition of cultural justice similar to that for environmental justice and agencies adopt shared, enforceable guidelines for meaningful consultation and incorporate a review process for consultation practices during impact assessments.

<h2>Abstract</h2> Air pollution is the greatest environmental risk to human health, according to the WHO and other international entities like the UN Human Rights Council and EEA. However, not everyone is equally affected by air pollution, depending on exposure and vulnerability. The objective of this systematic literature review is to investigate whether and how concepts related to environmental inequalities or justice have been considered when assessing health impacts of air pollution, identify possible gaps in knowledge, and offer suggestions for future research. A total of 99 articles are assessed considering framework, study region, time scale, data and indicators used and finally, the method applied (statistical, numerical or survey). Results show that EJ studies took place in 21 different countries, led by the United States of America (53 %), followed by Canada (6 %) and China (5 %). In terms of temporal coverage, more than 50 % of the studies were published in the last 5 years and are mainly focused on long-term studies. As regards proxy data, most of the studies focused on PM2.5, but only 50 % explicitly include health or exposure data. All studies evaluated EJ questions related to socio-economic status (SES) or race/ethnicity. The socio-economic indicators mostly used are associated with income (99 %), followed by population characterization and housing. The most common method used was statistical analysis (71 %), with 14 % applying surveys and 15 % using modelling for scenario approaches. These results point out that there is space for other case studies in Europe among other regions of the world, with more robust statistical models based on advanced mixed methods to deal with such multivariable research. At small geographic units, studies supported by survey information would be recommended to include both individual and contextual socio-economic indicators. A limited number of studies deal with social perceptions and citizen engagement. Future research is suggested. It should be noticed that this literature review only looks for occurrences of "environmental justice" related to air pollution/quality.

Background: This article assesses opportunities and challenges in designing and conducting environmental justice (EJ)-focused community-engaged research (CEnR) by graduate students through three case studies. Methods: Case Study 1 analyzes climate resilience in the New Orleans Vietnamese community using semistructured interviews, observations of community events, and informal discussions. Case Study 2 utilizes participatory workshops to build a climate justice-focused project. Case Study 3 uses action research to design a local, sustainable agriculture intervention. Results: Case Study 1 applies the concept of refugee resilience to understand community strengths and vulnerabilities in the face of climate injustice. Case Study 2 illustrates a dynamic participatory process in designing climate justice research through a community-engaged methodology. Case Study 3 finds that community-based action research is a crucial tool for civic engagement in science projects. Discussion: These case studies contribute to a critical application and reflection on CEnR and community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) in the context of critical EJ (CEJ). These case studies apply a CEJ lens through a multiscalar analysis, considering public universities as institutions of the state, and demonstrating the value of disadvantaged communities as integral and indispensable to the social, environmental, and climate justice movements. Conclusion: The case studies offer several contributions to the fields of CEJ and CBPAR: (1) Graduate students’ efforts to conduct CBPAR within the limitations of their academic environments offer important innovations while requiring patience, creativity, and humility; (2) CEnR models grounded in CEJ and the recognition of both resilience and trauma of marginalized communities can serve as powerful approaches to transformative social change; and (3) CBPAR describes a broad range of techniques that do not always occur fully within one project; instead, such projects should build on their unique strengths in their community-based, participatory, and action-oriented elements.