A single environmental conflict instantiates all four justice dimensions for humans and nature
Evidence
In the case of the use of reclaimed wastewater to make snow at a ski resort on a mountain sacred to local tribes, we can easily see distributional (Native Americans get more environmental bads than others), recognition-based (lack of acknowledgment of tribal cultures), participation-focused (exclusion from decision-making and lack of materials in tribal languages), and capabilities-based (the impact on tribes capability to retain cultural meanings and teachings) notions of environmental justice; we can also see distributional (water moved from one watershed to another), recognition-based (nature’s processes ignored), participation-focused (no proxies for impacted species or communities), and capabilities-based (what will water laced with pharmaceuticals do to the reproductive capacity of local animals and plants) notions of ecological justice. All of these exist simultaneously in a single snowmaking proposal. — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 587
Categorization
- DEFINE: Concrete worked example demonstrating how all four justice dimensions apply simultaneously to one real dispute.
- XREF: Direct textbook example to reuse across Eco-Justice pedagogy — the snowmaking proposal shows students how to dissect any environmental dispute. — connects to: Injustice is experienced simultaneously across distribution, recognition, participation, and functioning. — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 264; Ecological justice extends all four justice components to nonhuman nature — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 549; One integrated justice discourse can serve both human and ecological struggles — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 552 (+4 more)
- ADDENDUM: Could feed the trees-as-infrastructure piece: water diverted across watersheds and harm to reproductive capacity parallels the cross-species capability concerns there.
Broader Connections
- Justice dimensions are inseparable in global environmental movement discourse
#corroborates(0.85) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 333 - Ecological-space distribution can serve social and ecological justice at once.
#expands(0.85) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 387 - The environmental justice movement’s founding principles integrated justice dimensions from its earliest moments.
#corroborates(0.80) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 265 - The same justice framework can bridge human and nonhuman realms
#expands(0.80) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 13