Environmental Conflicts Research Articles

Stamina and the embodiment of expertise: resources of transnational activism to counter corporate slow violence

AbstractAnalyses from political ecology and other disciplines show on the one hand how projects of hydroelectric power production can lead to situations of corporate slow violence. On the other hand, contributions of the same disciplines analyse how transnational activism can change shape, course, and power structures in environmental conflicts. My contribution brings together these debates, which have so far been conducted separately, by analysing the conflict around a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant in rural Ecuador. The power plant has been backed by a legitimising discourse of contributing to sustainable non-carbon-based solutions to global climate change. Despite this good image, the company ignored the national legislation and the knowledge of the local population about their river, as well as their needs, and thus involved them in a situation of corporate slow violence. Parts of the community subsequently joined with activists from the U.S. and formed an NGO to convert the physical protest-dominated resistance strategy into one of scientific and legal activism. My analysis shows how this case of corporate slow violence was confronted by these activists mobilising a variety of resources, among them two that are not taken into account in the relevant literature so far, namely the necessary time, residency, and stamina to cope with the violence, and the use of the embodiment of expertise of the white colonialist other as a strategic tool to change power structures in the region.

Restorative Justice and Agrarian Reform Conflict Resolution

Abstract: The government emasculates agrarian reform. The government no longer interprets agrarian reform as a restructuring of land ownership. Furthermore, the interpretation of agrarian reform now primarily focuses on asset legalization, land redistribution, and social forestry. The issue lies in the emasculation of agrarian reform. Various structural agrarian conflicts remain unresolved after the government's implementation of agrarian reform. Differences in interpretation of agrarian reform trigger the conflict. The government's interpretation is different from the community's interpretation, which considers agrarian reform to be a systematic effort to provide the community with access to land. The author recommends the concept of restorative justice as an effort to resolve this problem. The government should use restorative justice instead of the militaristic approach to resolve the problem. This article employs an empirical legal research method, combining a sociological perspective and a case study approach. This article contains several important findings, one of which is that asset legalization is not an agrarian reform. Asset legalization fails to address the issue of land ownership inequality. The government's implementation of land redistribution fails to address the issue of land ownership inequality. The government's version of land redistribution not only fails to resolve the issue of land ownership inequality, but also seizes land from marginalized communities. The same goes for social forestry. Social forestry leaves behind unresolved agrarian and environmental conflicts. Differences in interpreting agrarian reform actually cause all these problems. Therefore, we can use restorative justice as an alternative to solving the problem. As a problem-solving model involving victims and suspects, this resolution model seeks peace between the two parties. The hope is that there will be no more bloody agrarian conflicts, especially related to agrarian reform in Indonesia. Keywords: Agrarian Conflict, Agrarian Reform, Restorative Justice

Iran as Subaltern Empire: Lake Orumiyeh, Environmental Injustice, and Coloniality in Iranian Azerbaijan

AbstractIn recent years, protests have emerged to save Lake Orumiyeh, which has nearly vanished following decades of agricultural development, dam building, and drought. Lake Orumiyeh is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, which sits at the intersection of three former empires: Persian, Ottoman, and Russian. Iranian Azerbaijan is largely comprised of ethno‐linguistic minority communities that are unevenly impacted by environmental hazards stemming from the lake's desiccation, and protests to save the lake are generally characterised as environmental conflict resulting from climate change or as a reflection of ethno‐nationalist tensions in Iran. These readings, however, fail to account for how imperial pasts and colonial presents shape exposure to environmental violence. This article posits that environmental violence functions as a form of coloniality and, using Lake Orumiyeh as an entry point, aims to: (i) examine coloniality in a country that was never formally colonised yet impacted by different formations of empire; (ii) account for subjectivities shaped through non‐Western European forms of imperialism; and (iii) connect racialised difference in Iran to the reproduction of colonial and racial logics vis‐à‐vis European imperialism.

Optimizing the Migratory Environment of Wildebeests in the Maasai Mara Reserve with a New Ecological Corridor and Customized Buffer Zone Model

Conflicts between wildlife and humans are a major ecological issue. During migration, wildlife, especially wildebeest, often encounter significant environmental pressures from human activities. However, relatively few studies have been conducted to provide a concise, quantitative description of wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR). In this study, we identified changes in the location of the wildebeest population over time in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. We then used a K-means algorithm (R2 = 0.926) to fit coordinates representing the changes in the location of the wildebeests to enable a quantitative representation of their migration routes. Subsequently, we developed an environmental stress model to assess the changes in environmental stresses faced by wildebeests along their migration routes. We proposed a model of “migratory ecological corridors and customized buffer zones” and determined the response coefficient T_res. We used the response coefficients T_res = 0.06, 0.09, and 0.12 as the critical values to categorize the areas along the routes into weak, medium, and strong response regions. Then, we set the width of the buffer zones on both sides of the routes as 5 km, 7 km, and 9 km, respectively, and evaluated the buffer effect. This type of model achieved a good effect of reducing the environmental pressure by 54.06%. The “Migratory Ecological Corridor and Customized Buffer Zone” model demonstrated a high degree of economic feasibility while showing good practicality in mitigating the environmental conflicts between humans and migratory wildlife. The variability in the environmental pressures across the region indicates that the Nairobi and Nakuru districts may be undergoing a particular stage of urbanization that unleashes potential threats to the migration of wildebeests. Further research is essential to assess the feasibility of larger buffer zones.

Довкіллєве правосуддя в Україні та світі

The article is devoted to the study of domestic and foreign trends in environmental justice. To solve the set goal, the following research methods were used, in particular: the method of scientific observation is to form the topic and purpose of the research; comparative legal method in the study of foreign experience of environmental justice; logical method – for theoretical generalization and formulation of research conclusions. The main models of environmental justice that exist in the world include such as consideration of environmental cases by courts of general jurisdiction, consideration of environmental cases by judges specializing in environmental issues or specialized environmental divisions of courts, consideration of environmental cases by specialized environmental courts. Environmental courts, as specialized judicial authorities, deal with the resolution of environmental conflicts and the protection of the environment and function in particular in countries that are members of the European Union, such as Sweden and Austria. In Ukraine, environmental justice is carried out in the form of civil, economic, administrative and criminal proceedings. At the same time, civil, economic, administrative and criminal cases in the environmental sphere differ among themselves in terms of the type of offense, the subject of the dispute, the composition of subjects, etc. Judicial practice in the environmental sphere covers a wide range of environmental relations, in particular on atmospheric air protection, land protection and use of land resources, subsoil protection and use of minerals, protection of forests and use of forest resources, protection and use of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund, access to environmental information, waste management, etc. Environmental justice in Ukraine may be limited to the functioning of certain specialized environmental units in courts, or involve the formation of a system of specialized environmental courts throughout the country, including a higher specialized court. At the same time, the implementation of environmental justice will be more or less time-consuming and costly (depending on the model chosen for implementation).

Environmental conflicts in the mass media: insight from the media representation of ecological distributive conflicts (EDCs) in Italy

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing prominence of local ecological-distributive conflicts (EDCs) as subjects of social science research in recent decades, interaction between the media and territorial conflict has remained overlooked, still requiring further investigation. Indeed, there is currently a lack of systematic, up-to-date analysis of the relationship between the media and ecological-distributive protests that goes beyond the investigation of NIMBY narratives to provide a general overview of territorial protest representations and their implications for conflict. Based on the application of Political Claims Analysis to the national newspaper, la Repubblica, and its reporting of six Italian local EDCs, this article aims to discuss the ambivalent representations of territorial protest in the media, while also highlighting the implications of different narrative patterns for the values and perspectives embedded in public opinion. The twofold aim is to investigate the media’s narrative strategies with regard to local protests and their evolution throughout the mobilizations and to assess how the cultural context influences the likelihood that different messages will gain support. This investigation is crucial not only for filling the existing gap regarding the relationship between media and the ongoing spread of EDCs in Italy, but also for grasping broader dynamics concerning media management of environmental conflict, something that is becoming increasingly relevant to both the political and media spheres.

Assessment of urbanization impacts in Tegucigalpa urban greenness via normalized difference vegetation index

Urban vegetation is essential to develop sustainable, habitable, and healthy cities. Urbanization in large cities may be detrimental to urban vegetation when urban planning is scarce. Tegucigalpa, Honduras's capital city, had an atypical 8-year period of intensive urbanization, which may have modified urban vegetation. Excessive tree removal and reduced urban greenness reports became abundant in local media. This paper aimed to determine if urbanization indeed modified Tegucigalpa's urban greenness to a detrimental level. A Landsat-8 imagery survey was conducted to assess Tegucigalpa's urban vegetation dynamics via the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the 2013–2021 dry and rainy seasons. The results revealed a stable trend for the dry seasons NDVI remaining in constant proximity to 0.11 while increasing steadily to around 0.17 during the rainy seasons due to precipitation watering vegetation. Negligible fluctuations (<0.1) occurred throughout the study period, suggesting urbanization most likely did not shrink urban vegetation to the extreme extent stated by Honduran media. The NDVI provided a scientific basis for assessing Tegucigalpa's vegetation changes, preventing potential environmental conflicts. Although most researchers have reported that urbanization decreases NDVI in large cities, others found that urbanization does not always produce vegetation degradation and suggested that climatic variables are significant factors determining vegetation growth. Nevertheless, the steadily low NDVI in Tegucigalpa suggests the absence of sustainable urban planning to increase urban vegetation. Urban trees are central to sustainable urban planning; therefore, afforestation policies should be considered by Tegucigalpa's government and policymakers.

Community-Based Participatory Research on Urban Environmental Conflicts: Sand Quarries in Northern Bogotá

The paper is about community-based participatory research on environmental conflicts about sand quarries in northern Bogotá. Community-based participatory research is applied to understand the environmental conflicts of mining activities. The approach was suitable for improving the relevance and acceptance of research in the local community. It invited community members to participate and uphold their views about the social conflicts and environmental impacts arising from mining activities. The findings highlight the need for participatory environmental governance, integrating local communities and power relations analysis in environmental decision-making.

The role of critical remote sensing in environmental justice struggles

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.

Application of the Principle of Proportionality in Regulating Environmental Conflicts: An Experience of Ukraine

Application of the Principle of Proportionality in Regulating Environmental Conflicts: An Experience of Ukraine

Actor Networks and Environmental Conflicts: The Case of Benoa Bay Reclamation (2014-2019)

This study explores the formation of actor networks in developing conservation areas, specifically focusing on the Benoa Bay conservation area in Bali from 2014 to 2019. This period marks the beginning and temporary cessation of reclamation development permits in the area, instigated by a Presidential Decree. The study examines how actor networks form through material negotiations, categorizing actors into pros (supporting reclamation) and cons (opposing reclamation). It employs the Actor Network Theory (ANT) framework, particularly the moments concept developed by Callon, to analyze these networks and negotiations. The research is qualitative, using case studies and field data collected through interviews with relevant stakeholders. The primary findings reveal that actors on both sides—pro and con—form networks based on the material narratives they promote. For the pros, the need for tourism space justifies reclamation, while the cons focus on conservation values upheld by the Balinese community. The reclamation issue acts as a moment of problematization, bringing these opposing material narratives into conflict within the conservation area. The study follows ANT’s stages from problematization to mobilization, highlighting how the conflicting material narratives of both pro and con actors interact and influence the network formation. Ultimately, the research illustrates the dynamics of actor networks in the context of reclamation, showing how material negotiations shape these networks and the contestation over spatial production in Benoa Bay networks.

FEATURES OF CONDUCTING INFORMATION WARS IN THE XXI CENTURY

The transformation of the world order has led to a rather serious change in the issues of war and peace in the XXI century. The development of competition between states leads to the search for new tools for implementing policies and their goals on the world stage. Information wars are the use of information and related technologies to gain an advantage over the enemy and are becoming more widespread in the world every year, which undoubtedly indicates the relevance of the topic. In this regard, the author of the study set a goal to identify the main features of waging information wars in the XXI century. New threats and challenges, such as cyber warfare, global terrorism, hybrid conflicts, proxy wars, environmental conflicts and insurgent movements are closely interconnected with information wars. Questions of warfare have long gone beyond simple technological innovations and are rather a rethinking of the ways in which the actors involved interact. The leap in information technology leads to a modification of the means that information wars have. All this undoubtedly speaks to the importance of critically understanding the consequences of these new ways of conducting information wars, especially with regard to their ability to distort the global and political dynamics of the development of international relations.

Accumulation by contamination: Worldwide cost-shifting strategies of capital in waste management

With this article, we propose an analytical and conceptual tool to illuminate connections between capital development and environmental injustices. The research examines how capital-driven industrial policies foster changes in social metabolisms and cause new socio-environmental impacts, leading to ecological distribution conflicts. It also explores why diverse actors mobilise and resist these changes. Building on Kapp’s ecological economics theory of social costs and David Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession, we highlight the role of capital accumulation in environmental injustices through cost-shifting strategies, terming it “Accumulation by Contamination” (AbC). In this context, AbC refers to the process wherein capital socialises the costs of contamination, degrading the means of existence and bodies of human beings who oppose these processes of capital valorisation and engage in environmental conflicts. We make a compelling case for AbC by exploring waste-related conflicts at various industrial developmental stages. Waste, viewed as a ’common bad,’ emerges as a strategic realm for capitalists seeking to expand the scale and scope of accumulation. The intricacies of waste management, its market potential, and guaranteed profitability through subsidies and processes of financialisation attract significant investments globally. Quantitative and qualitative waste management assessments demonstrate that waste policies often favour businesses, leading to cost-shifting of waste management to society (in Naples, Italy; and Delhi, in India) and the dispossession of waste-pickers (in Delhi). More broadly, we emphasise the importance of integrating ecological economics and Marxist critical geography to address environmental challenges. We also analytically study the diverse actors responding to various capital strategies, fostering transformative political actions for a sustainable future. Climate change is arguably the most significant waste disposal conflict due to excessive carbon dioxide production, representing a quintessential example of Accumulation by Contamination (AbC).

Solastalgia as Disruption of Biocultural Identity. The Mount Amiata Geothermal Conflict

Some residents of Mount Amiata in Tuscany, Italy, are experiencing emotional distress and solastalgia due to changes in their beloved land. Mount Amiata is witnessing protests by citizens’ associations and activists who criticize the alleged social, economic, and environmental sustainability of geothermal energy. The analysis of the environmental conflict around geothermal energy on Mount Amiata contributes to the empirical use of the concept of "solastalgia” as affective rupture of biocultural relationships and identities. In the area surrounding Mount Amiata, the production of geothermal energy is experienced as an attack on the biodiversity of the "Mother Mountain," as a loss of the sense of home, and as part of a "predatory philosophy" employed by ENEL (Ente Nazionale per l’Energia Elettrica, National Electricity Board). This ethnographic study aims to analyze how the transformation of places influences the affective and biocultural identity of their inhabitants.

Unveiling Territorialities: Small Drones for Ethnographic Research on Environmental Conflicts

Researching environmental conflicts can be a challenging ethnographic endeavor, especially when their causes are influenced (in)directly by illicit stakeholders and activities. In this article we explore the potential of small drones for better grasping the complexity of environmental conflicts from an activist research and an engaged ethnography standpoint. Through a case study in Michoacán (Mexico), we show how we used small drones for ethnographic research in three different stages: before takeoff, during flights, and after landing. We also show how drones helped us unveil illegal and criminal territorialities previously unnoticed in the study area, which were key to understanding the environmental conflict, its root causes, and its present dynamics. Based on our findings, we present a methodological proposal for using small drones for ethnographic research. We also discuss some safety and ethical considerations related to our proposal. We conclude by suggesting some avenues for future research to further explore the ethnographic potential of small drones in environmental conflicts and other research areas.

Haunted Sicilian Landscapes: Orazio Labbate Petrovisions and the Italian Energy Hubris

This paper explores the socio-environmental implications of energy extraction and production in Gela, Sicily. It examines narratives surrounding oil encounters and the manipulation of social and environmental consciousness by national energy companies. Two toxic narratives are examined: the formation of petrofictions and the use of myths and eco-efficiency rhetoric for greenwashing, drawing on environmental and energy humanities perspectives. Through a critical analysis of Orazio Labbate’s novel Suttaterra, the paper explores the trauma induced by encounters with oil and environmental conflicts documented in Sicilian landscapes. It also examines the manipulation of public perception by national energy companies through mythological storytelling, using the example of Eni’s offshore gas exploration project in Sicily. The paper points to the urgent need for a transition to sustainable energy practices and calls for greater environmental and energy justice in the region.

When Heritage and Landscape Values Are Confronted by Planned Infrastructures: A Glance at ‘Public Debate’ (‘Dibattito Pubblico’) Procedures in Italy

Public debate procedures (“dibattito pubblico”, DP) have been recently introduced in Italy to provide an additional platform for public participation into infrastructure-related decision-making processes. Inspired by their French equivalent (“débat public”), these procedures sensibly differ from EIAs as they occur at a very early stage, i.e., before projects’ final drafting. Another significant difference, specific to the Italian context, is a provision dedicated to heritage sites and protected areas foreseeing a wider application of DPs in those contexts. This paper aims to further explore the different relationships between actors at play within DP procedures on the one hand, and heritage sites and landscapes on the other hand, through the analysis of dedicated reports and other documents. Heritage- and landscape-related values are commonly mobilized in relation to all infrastructural projects considered, although in various ways and sometimes with conflicting aims. The article highlights that environmental conflicts are likely to affect and mobilize heritage and landscape values, and calls for a closer dialogue between infrastructure planning, heritage and landscape planning, and political ecology.

Beyond the State’s Failure to Protect: The Case of Masungi and the Prospects for Resolving the Environmental Conflict

Beyond the State’s Failure to Protect: The Case of Masungi and the Prospects for Resolving the Environmental Conflict

A conciliatory and persuasive social campaign changes owner behavior to reduce cats' hunting

AbstractSolutions to the cats‐hunting‐wildlife environmental conflict could benefit from social science approaches. Our Theory of Planned Behavior questionnaire—informed by an elicitation survey of cat owners at veterinary clinics about their attitudes, norms, and beliefs regarding bringing their cats inside at night—surveyed 158 cat owners across 20 veterinarian clinics in four cities. It revealed that wildlife conservation was not influential on cat owner intention but veterinarians, cat safety, peers, and household members were. Thus, we designed a social marketing campaign with two treatments: (1) a veterinarian/cat safety message or (2) social/family norm message. Thirty‐four veterinary clinics received one of the two campaign posters or served as the control group. Customers (n = 510) received a “cat welfare” survey and then a pamphlet with the advocated message, and a follow‐up survey by email or telephone 3–6 weeks later (69% response rate). Campaign messaging significantly increased the number of cat owners who reported bringing their cats inside at night compared to the control group. The social/family norm message was most effective. Although rudimentary, the campaign generated measurable changes in cat owner intention and behavior. Conservation campaigns informed by co‐benefits for cat owners may reduce cats' hunting and be conciliatory ways of transcending environmental conflict.

PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA TERHADAP LINGKUNGAN HIDUP DI MASYARAKAT MELALUI MEJA HIJAU

Litigation or non-litigation may be used to settle an environmental dispute in the environmental law court. the resolution of the environmental conflict through the legal system with a claim based on Article 1365 of the Civil Act and Article 87 of Act Number 32, 2009 about the Protection and Environmental Control. The absolute strict liability principle is applied to acts and/or conducts that use disposal B3 or that pose a substantial threat to the environment.