Environmental Justice Intro & Chap 4

Introduction and Chapter 4: Just Sustainability in Theory

In the introduction, Agyeman gives a brief history of the relationship between environmental justice and sustainability. Environmental justice is characterized as a grassroots “bottom-up” approach, while sustainability is a “top-down” approach. This dichotomy creates the void which separates the two movements. Agyeman then introduces Just Sustainability as the bridge that can unite these two movements, which are in actuality not as dissimilar as many think.

In Chapter 3, Just sustainability in Theory, Agyeman discusses the differences between Just Sustainability, Environmental Justice Paradigm, and New Environmental Paradigm. Agyeman also explains how the Just Sustainability Paradigm is more flexible than either framework, but can also act synergistically with EJP and NEP.

What I found most interesting about Agyeman’s argument is the supposition that the Just Sustainability Paradigm is the one right way to unite the Environmental Justice Paradigm and the New Environmental Paradigm. Clearly his argument is based on the need to create synergy between disparate social and environmental movements, but the fact that that focusing more on environmental justice, or the environment (ecology) appeals to different audiences is not addressed by Agyeman. Collapsing the disparate messages into a single message may hinder the environmental justice and ecological environmental movements more than help. Agyeman states clearly the difference between EJP and NEP is a “narrow-focus vs. broad-focus agenda” and proceeds to develop this concept through a transit example (85). While the results – improved public transit – are the outcomes of both his examples, it seems like that is not a satisfactory result. This begs the question of marketing, and why advertisers tailor ads for the same product to different demographic markets. Clearly they do so to appeal to a wide variety of individuals.

With environmental justice and “green” environmentalism, the principle is the same. Though the messages and the audiences targeted may be different, this may actually serve to increase acceptance of an agenda.