Misrecognition and political exclusion structurally block poor communities’ participation in environmental decisions

Evidence

The demand for this type of authentic, community-based participation comes out of the experience of disenfranchisement—the combination of misrecognition and political exclusion. The lack of participation in environmental decision-making comes, in very large part, from the limitations of race, class, and gender. These present a range of structural obstacles—including less access to political, legal, scientific, economic, and other resources—to full participation in environmental decisions. Environmental justice groups often argue that the injustices they suffer come from a lack of oversight; the demand to counter this is not just a call for a recognition of the problem, but also a call for more thorough and participatory local input into, and control over, environmental decisions. Groups do not want others—either mainstream environmental groups or governmental agencies—simply saying that they will take care of the community’s interests; they wish to be consulted from the start, speak for themselves, work with a variety of other groups and agencies, and be offered a full partnership in the making of decisions. — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 248

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s three-part justice typology: this paragraph is the causal bridge showing misrecognition (recognition) causes participation failure (procedural) — the hinge identified in ch23/25. — connects to: Failed advisory processes permanently suppress future civic engagement in communities; Racial mismatch between community and decision makers drives deliberative failure; Environmental education can alienate resource-dependent rural communities when it condemns local livelihoods. — David Sobel, Place-Based Education: Connecting…, 68 (+16 more)
• DEFINE: Defines what authentic community-based participation requires: consultation from the start, speaking for oneself, full partnership — not delegated caretaking.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does the demand to be ‘consulted from the start’ and offered ‘full partnership’ map onto procedural-justice institutions like EPA advisory boards, and where does that institutionalization fail?

Broader Connections

• Global environmental justice movements target misrecognition, exclusion, and incapacity alongside inequity #corroborates (0.85) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 298
• Participation and collective decision-making neutralize rather than redistribute subordinate power #contradicts (0.78) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 800
• Ecological reflexivity opens democratic decision-making to excluded environmental viewpoints #expands (0.72) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 650