Challenges Of Justice Research Articles

American Chestnut Restoration: Accommodating Others or Scaling Up?

ABSTRACT A genetically modified variant of the critically endangered American chestnut (Castanea dentata) has been developed for use in restoring the species. This essay argues against such use, on the grounds that deploying the engineered tree potentially sets troubling industry and conservation precedents, operates on a paradigm of increased intervention rather than increased accommodation of other forms of life, and presents significant justice challenges in relation to Indigenous groups. In light of these problems, it is recommended that conservationists follow the approach to chestnut restoration adopted by the Canadian Chestnut Council, which opposes the conservation application of genetically modified chestnut trees.

O Anel de Gyges nos Devaneios de Rousseau

The present work aims at studying the myth of Gyges’ ring from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s work The Reveries of a solitary Walker. Gyges’ ring is a magic artefact, allowing its bearer to be visible or invisible according to his will. The ring’s myth is portraited for the first time in the Second Book of Plato’s Republic. Thusly, our article is divided in two parts: the first one presents an analysis of the Republic observing its challenge of justice and the relation it holds with the art of ruling; the second part presents an investigation of Rousseau’s work to show how he had absorbed the ring’s myth. The main objective of our work is the comparison between Plato’s and Rousseau’s view of Gyges’ ring, and the investigation of the concept of nature as one of the pillars of the social contract theory. As results we present the way Rousseau answers to the challenge of justice from the concept of justice within the soul, whereas no harm could be done to others. In his reflexion on the ring, Rousseau seems to point at the existence of an interior justice according to its “natural inclination”, opposite to any obligation of the positive law among men. Therefore, one needs to observe that Rousseau is defending justice according to the natural rights holding that any contract established among men should be according to nature. This agrees with our thesis of a possible political ontology based on firstly, the concept of a universal justice, and secondly, on the art of ruling according to justice.

Empowering Asian Educators in the Time of Crisis

In this article, I draw from my experience working as a Korean American music teacher in the US. I reflect on what it means to be Asian American and to bring Asian narratives to the forefront. I examine the distinct challenges of social justice in the context of Asians and Asian Americans’ lives—particularly through the lens of the “model minority.” The COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted Asians and Asian Americans’ lived experiences in ways unlike before. I discuss perceptions of Asians throughout US history and the current representativeness of Asian music in the framework of multicultural education. Grounded in Erving Goffman’s notion of covering, Kenji Yoshino’s extension of this concept (the four axes of covering), and Edward Said’s Orientalism, I make seven recommendations to empower Asians and Asian educators in this time of crisis. The article explores and situates the current challenges of anti-Asian racism, connecting it to aforementioned theories and briefly proposes the concept of 홍익인간 (Hongik-Ingan) to course-correct, support, and acknowledge Asian educators’ multiplicity of identities as allies.

Yongsan, Pig Poop and Apartments

South Korea experienced rapid change and development before and after WWII. As cities grow bigger, ‘smelly facilities’ which were initially located in suburban areas, had to move away from cities, one after another. This research follows two facilities: Yongsan machine factories, and pig farms typically run by Hansen’s disease patients. Industrial Yongsan appeared around the 1910s during the Japanese occupation until the factory relocation plan started in the 1970s under the regime of President Park Chung-hee.
 From a suburban area, Yongsan became the center of Seoul. It shows that neighbors are qualified and welcome to stay in the city by its factory relocation plan. Small cities also grew bigger and so-called ‘Innovation Cities’ were built in 10 different areas of South Korea. From early 2010, newly located innovation cities confronted the ‘smelly pig farm’ right in front of them and the conflict began between residents.
 This article argues what mobility justice challenges when citizens want to choose their ‘right’ neighbors and follows who makes the decision of one’s mobility.

Social inequalities in climate change-attributed impacts of Hurricane Harvey

Climate change is already increasing the severity of extreme weather events such as with rainfall during hurricanes. But little research to date investigates if, and to what extent, there are social inequalities in climate change-attributed extreme weather event impacts. Here, we use climate change attribution science paired with hydrological flood models to estimate climate change-attributed flood depths and damages during Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Texas. Using detailed land-parcel and census tract socio-economic data, we then describe the socio-spatial characteristics associated with these climate change-induced impacts. We show that 30 to 50% of the flooded properties would not have flooded without climate change. Climate change-attributed impacts were particularly felt in Latina/x/o neighborhoods, and especially so in Latina/x/o neighborhoods that were low-income and among those located outside of FEMA’s 100-year floodplain. Our focus is thus on climate justice challenges that not only concern future climate change-induced risks, but are already affecting vulnerable populations disproportionately now.

Toward critical race tourism: valuing counter-narratives and endarkened storywork

In this article, we argue for tourism scholars to amplify the stories and lived experiences of traditionally silenced groups through the adaption of critical race theory (CRT) toward a framework of Critical Race Tourism. Critical Race Tourism includes a specific focus on counter-storytelling, endarkened storywork, and regular engagement of interest convergence. We believe Critical Race Tourism can contribute to racial reconciliation and healing, particularly during a time of a global pandemic, that exacerbates systems of marginalization and oppression. Using a Critical Race Tourism framework is about realizing the potential of thick, rich data of everyday lived experiences from marginalized communities in order to enrich the theoretical, empiricism, and scholarly insights offered by academic writing. We begin by defining CRT and describe the employment of and application within tourism studies. We introduce the framework of endarkened storywork, which responds to the sustainability and justice challenges resulting from past, current, and future inequities for BIPOC communities. We close with implications for tourism contexts and research.

Racial Capitalism and the Contemporary International Law on Slavery: (Re)membering Hacienda Brasil Verde

ABSTRACT Refusal of abject commodification undergirds contemporary international law definitions of slavery and their growing linkage to international economic agreements through injunctions against the use of forced labor. Yet there are screaming silences in ongoing attempts to grapple with the prevalence and significance of contemporary slavery in the global economy. This contribution to the special issue on racial capitalism in international economic law calls for a reckoning with the past in the international law on contemporary slavery. By foregrounding resistances to erasure, and squarely addressing the significance of race to the perpetuation of slavery, this article seeks to harness their promise for a reconstruction of a contemporary law of slavery that understands racialization as offering an essential social justice challenge to the decommodification of labor.

Considering the role of social media: #BlackLivesMatter as a pedagogical intervention to decolonise curriculum

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic transformation to schooling for students throughout the world. During this period, a number of issues arose in our local, national and global communities, including the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests and rallies organised by #BlackLivesMatter. Living through and witnessing many social issues, coupled with the new and enduring pandemic, furthered our understandings of how young people were engaging with these topics without the structures of schools to support them. This article presents the results of a case study where youth aged 15–17 years shared their experiences and understandings about many social justice issues they were observing. The most significant learning around these issues for youth occurred informally through social media as opposed to in the classroom, reinforcing that schools are not ethical spaces from which to challenge institutional, structural and systemic barriers to justice. As such, this article discusses the potential for formal education to be transformed into an ethical and decolonising space to learn about and challenge injustice.

Extractivism and Unjust Food Insecurity for Peru’s Loreto Indigenous Communities

Background. Many scholars have examined Indigenous food security and sovereignty yet the topic still represents a small share of environmental justice scholarship. Therefore, we completed a case study of the environmental justice challenges concerning food security faced by the Indigenous communities of Peru’s Loreto region. Methods. During 2019, we conducted fieldwork in 64 Indigenous communities of Kukama Kukamiria and Urarina in the Amazon rainforests of Loreto, Peru. Based on a semi-stratified sample and snowball sampling method, we combined participant observation with 139 interviews focused on feeding habits, production and availability, access, utilization, food stability, and perception of food insecurity with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) method. Results. Analyzing these themes led to worrisome assessments of the food insecurity and institutional limits of Indigenous communities. Because of their geographic location, these communities experience a degraded and unhealthy environment with water and food contaminated by hydrocarbon extraction activity. Furthermore, Peru’s policy of food and nutrition security has public management deficiencies especially in the Loreto region. Thus, many of the efforts adopted remain ineffective. Conclusion. Indigenous communities that live following ancestral culture often lack resources to change their diets. Thus, they frequently suffer the most following the contamination of an environment with which they experience an interdependent relation.

The challenges of long-delayed prosecutions in fighting impunity in Bangladesh

AbstractThis article focuses on the challenges of ‘long-delayed’ prosecutions, that is, criminal prosecutions that begin decades after the conflict, using the experience of the International Criminal Tribunal for Bangladesh (ICT-BD) as a case study. This issue is still an insufficiently discussed topic even though such prosecutions are likely to become more common in the future. The focus of this article is mainly on the legal and broader, transitional justice challenges of long-delayed prosecutions at the ICT-BD. The article examines how such prosecutions have had a contradictory, two-fold effect: on the one hand, they have partially broken the endemic culture of impunity that was allowed to prevail for decades in Bangladesh. On the other hand, however, they have been highly controversial and may have served to deepen alienation of the Islamist opposition in Bangladesh. The article concludes that the question of whether long-delayed prosecutions are desirable for a particular society remains highly context-dependent and, in some cases, mechanisms other than criminal trials may be better suited to dealing with the past.

How can we drive sustainability transitions?

Sustainability transitions are required to address challenges of climate change, economic development, ecological integrity, and social justice. Driving sustainability transitions is difficult but necessary work. We discuss sustainability challenges and the need for transitions, with a focus on the vital roles that change agents can play. These change agents exhibit a desire to make change happen. They encourage others to join them in their efforts. After discussing the work of change agents in driving sustainability transitions, we present a case study of change in Perth, Australia, where change agents have attained considerable success in placing that city on a path toward sustainable water management practices. We suggest sustainability transitions can be effectively enabled when change agents: (1) Clarify the problem and articulate a clear vision; (2) Engage others to identify workable solutions and implementation pathways; (3) Secure support from influential stakeholders; (4) Establish effective monitoring tools and learning systems; (5) Foster long-term relationships of trust and mutual support; and (6) Develop narratives that support on-going action.

Beyond the Backyard: GIS Analysis of Public Green Space Accessibility in Australian Metropolitan Areas

During times of stress and social pressure, urban green space provides social, cultural, and economic resources that help individuals and communities cope. Green space accessibility is, therefore, an important indicator related to people’s health and welfare. However, green space accessibility is not even throughout urban areas, with some areas better served with green space than others. Green space patterning is, therefore, a major environmental justice challenge. This research uses GIS approaches to analyze and understand urban green space access of urban communities in the Australian metropolitan areas of Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. We calculate indicators to describe green space access in relation to different green space patterns within different metropolitan zones, including the inner urban, suburban, and peri urban. We use the best available open data from the Australian census of 2017 to calculate green space accessibility. Our results describe the relationship between population density and green space distribution and patterning in the four metropolitan areas. We find that even cities which are generally thought of as liveable have considerable environmental justice challenges and inequity and must improve green space access to address environmental inequity. We also find that a range type of measures can be used to better understand green space accessibility. Accessibility varies greatly both within metropolitan areas and also from city to city. Through improving our understanding of the green space accessibility characteristics of Australian metropolitan areas, the result of this study supports the future planning of more just and equal green cities.

Administrative judiciary is looking for a balance in a crisis

The article focuses on actual challenges of administrative justice in the Slovak Republic and Poland. The legal crisis and the crisis in law in both countries have common signs and necessarily differences. The authors analyze selected problems of administrative justice, which are connected by the current state of society marked by the crisis. In the part dedicated to the Slovak Republic and Poland, emphasis is placed on the crisis associated with changes in the judicial system and - additionally - in Poland it is the crisis associated with changes in the law caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the nature of the researched topic, we have applied analysis, synthesis as well as comparison of legal regulations in the processing of this issue. However, in addition to the mentioned scientific methods of research, we also used scientific literature, case law and analogy of the law. The article can be beneficial by researching the development of problems associated with administrative justice in states with a similar historical development of society.

Testimonial Injustice and Prediction Markets

ABSTRACT This essay argues that prediction markets, as one approach for aggregating dispersed private information, may not only be praised for their epistemic accuracy. They also feature characteristics that are morally desirable from the point of view of epistemic justice. Notably, they are a promising approach when we are trying to address testimonial injustice. The impersonality of market transactions effectively tackles the issue of identity prejudice, which underlies many forms of testimonial injustice. This is not to say that prediction markets do not pose challenges for epistemic justice of their own like the risk of excluding knowers based on ability to pay. Or, in light of identity prejudice’s systematicity, the risk of discouraging some knowers because of differences in education or social background that lead to a certain unease when faced with prediction markets. The essay discusses these challenges, concedes limitations but also offers countermeasures to certain worries – e.g. hosting prediction markets on a play-money basis. Throughout, the essay addresses the question of the potential scope of using prediction markets for epistemic purposes, notably by means of the practical example of a prediction market for monetary policy.

Reentering a World in Lockdown: A Poetic Meditation

This essay reflects the spirit of our times, at least in North America. Reentering a generative world in lockdown is juxtaposed with the gains and losses in our communities. “For All Eternity,” my poem, is about the generative cycle of rebirth and death and the forces that move us from decay to regeneration. As the coronavirus pandemic paradoxically rages and abates, in our wisdom, may we heal from this protracted moment in history. May we remember the beloved who helped improve lives. Let us rejoice in the gift of being in community (again), welcoming all who are new to our communities, workplaces, and professions. Besides the demands of our work, before us stretch ever-unfolding challenges of justice. Striving to protect ourselves, loved ones, and societies from multiple pandemics, through courage we enact community-based action, disrupt racial and sexual violence, safeguard vulnerable groups, and protect the earth and every child. With radical love, we embrace humanity and protect freedom and relationships, and by wholeheartedly inhabiting our lives we create space for discomfort and change, hope and renewal. May we all find love, healing, and creativity as we experience what has been and what will be.

Scaling up civic food utopias in Australia: The challenges of justice and representation

AbstractThrough the lens of food utopias, this article explores the opportunities and dilemmas experienced by selected civic food networks (CFNs) in Australia as they seek to scale‐up from local initiatives, to regional coalitions, to national social movements. Findings from qualitative analysis of key informant interviews indicate the ways that scaling up is both a micro‐ and macro‐level process. While local initiatives focus on different problems (food waste, hunger, health, ecology), establishing shared visions that emphasise systems reform has shaped coalition building and collective action beyond the local. As problem and solution definitions converge and diverge around justice and rights, however, limitations in the representation, positioning and ‘voice’ of marginalised stakeholders – specifically, indigenous people and those most affected by hunger – have emerged. This has opened up new spaces of contestation that today take central place in determining the trajectory of ‘values‐based territorial food networks’ in Australia.

The persistence of power: Reflections on the power dynamics in a Merging of Knowledge research project


 
 
 Collaborative research approaches emphasise the need to transform the way the academic community produces science by integrating knowledge from different disciplines, but also by including non-academic knowledge in order to address the challenges of sustainability and social justice. This approach – known in the literature on sustainability science as transdisciplinarity – has been used increasingly in research to resolve sustainability problems, including those related to poverty and socio-economic inequalities. This article seeks to shed light on the power dynamics that exist and emerge in transdisciplinary processes by analysing a case study on food poverty. Following Fritz and Meinherz’s (2020) approach, I use Amy Allen’s (1998) typology of power to track and trace the way that power played out between and within actor groups in a project that applied a transdisciplinary methodology known as the ‘Merging of Knowledge’. Although the Merging of Knowledge model seeks to identify and address power differentials between the participating groups, power relations remain complex, dynamic and – to some extent – inevitable. Collaborative processes would benefit from an analysis of the way that power dynamics emerge, persist and evolve to enhance awareness of different forms of power that coexist in research, and to ensure that imbalances present outside the research process are not reproduced within it.
 
 

Reprint of: Using social network analysis to study crime: Navigating the challenges of criminal justice records

The use of social network analysis to study groups of offenders engaged in illicit activities such as drug trafficking and terrorism has grown in popularity over the last three decades. Along with such growth, however, researchers have been confronted with a suite of challenges related to the use of data extracted from criminal justice records. In this paper, we review these challenges through a discussion of the extant empirical literature utilizing social network analysis approaches that draw data from the criminal justice system. First, we outline and discuss the different types of data used across this literature. Second, we chronicle the challenges that have emerged across the field of criminal networks via a comprehensive review of the literature. In particular, we draw on the documented experiences of researchers in the field, including our own, and detail “archeological” approaches that future researchers can utilize to adapt and overcome said challenges. The use of criminal justice records can suffer from a number of limitations, mainly with respect to accuracy, validity and reliability. Such data may include errors, both intentional (e.g. aliases, false information) and unintentional (e.g. transcription errors), including missing data. The use of criminal justice records present particular problems with defining the network boundary as the boundary as determined by law enforcement or prosecution agencies may not correspond to the boundary as defined by network members. We conclude by offering a number of recommendations for researchers about data collection and preparation when utilizing criminal justice records.

The Alignment of Greece with the Environmental Law of the European Union: Historical Development, Current Trends and Critical Implications with Regard to the Challenge of Intragenerational and Intergenerational Justice

We are living in an age, where the connection between the concepts of “environment” and “justice” is disputed in terms of its very existence and practical application. At the same time, the force of environmental law is encountered in a variety of institutional organizations internationally, among which the European Union and its cohesive member states play a pivotal role, albeit with differences amid its Community partners. In the present paper, the compliance of Greek environmental law with the European one is studied in the light of intragenerational and intergenerational justice. Methodologically, a systematic review of 106 institutional documents and scientific bibliographic references was carried out, acquiescing in the instructions of the PRISMA Statement (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & The PRISMA Group, 2009; Page et al., 2021). The findings of the research showed both the prevalence of appropriate institutional mechanisms at Community and Greek domestic level, as well as the chronic shortcomings of Greece in relation to the unhindered implementation of the European environmental regulations. Consequently, the need to redefine Greek national policies so as to be characterized by an explicit ecological orientation and to update the investigated issue in the context of the current coronavirus pandemic emerges.

Environmental Justice Challenges to International Economic Ordering

The relationship between trade, investment, and environmental protection is complex, and environmental activists have engaged with international economic law in a wide variety of ways. Some environmental activists have sought to use trade systems as leverage to advance environmental protections aims, while others have been concerned about how international economic law constrains unilateral national environmental action. The dominant account of the harmonization of economic and environmental norms and the promotion of sustainable development through trade and investment is challenged by sobering statistics of ecological decline. In the face of intersecting ecological, economic, and social crises facing the global community, the often-marginalized critique developed by environmental justice activists of neoliberal globalization and the legal regimes that enable it is more urgent than ever. These perspectives and voices—which sometimes align with other environmental activists and sometimes directly oppose market-orientated environmental agendas—have been marginalized in the scholarship on international economic law, but offer an indispensable resource for imagining more equitable and ecologically just forms of global economic cooperation. This essay shows how environmental justice activists have enacted a powerful politics of refusal, resisting international economic law as well as articulating visions of how to achieve systemic change and sustainable societies based on environmental, social, economic, and gender justice and peoples’ sovereignty.