Policy approaches according to the target group

Social policies may target society as a whole or specific groups: General social policy: general measures and programs without taking into account specific group characteristics.  Target group policy: programs and measures focusing particular groups. Positive measures. Both types of policies may increase inequality. This apparent inability to evade inequality is known as “the dilemma of [...]

Recognition and redistribution

The relationship between public, cultural recognition of groups diversity and economic redistribution centered one important debate in Social Sciences between philosophers  Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth.   Read more about Nancy Fraser Read more about Axel Honneth Axel Honneth conceives recognition as the fundamental, over-arching moral category, potentially encompassing redistribution. Nancy Fraser argues that the [...]

Urban socio-ecological imaginaries: the discourses of urban natures

The discourses of urban natures, their practices and outcomes are crucial to understand urban environmental injustice and inequality: There is a growing global awareness of the environmental crisis (global warming, new diseases, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, pollution…):     Click here to read a list of topics on which further research is needed.

Urban socio-ecological movements and the struggles for justice

A key theme in environmental justice is the work of environmental justice movements. According to Agyeman (2005), EJM’s do not propose a progressive socio-ecological utopia. They are: reactionary defensive demonstrating against injustices Urban political ecology has paid less empirical attention to environmental justice movements and placed more emphasis on questions of intense social struggle (Swyngedouw and [...]

Urban political ecology

Urban political ecology (UPE) is a school of critical urban political-environmental research (Heynen et al. 2006b) which complements the view of Environmental Justice: On the basis of the school of urban political ecology there are three main thinkers:   Click here to read references to some urban political ecology monographs. The main ideas of urban political ecology [...]

Urban environmental justice

There is an increasing literature on environmental justice (EJ), which focuses on: But, what is environmental justice?  What does environmental justice do? The concept of environmental justice emerged in the United States: In the 1970s, as opposition to toxic sites near deprived communities In the 1980s, as protests against environmental racism (Schlosberg, 2003, 2007) The pioneers were: [...]