Pursuing Environmental Justice through Collaboration: Insights from Experience.

Abstract

Although collaborative processes are already being promoted as a strategy for managing environmental justice conflicts, the factors that promote and hinder effective collaborative processes in cases of environmental justice have not yet been explored. A case study approach identified the unique characteristics of environmental justice conflicts and provides a nuanced insight into the implications of these characteristics for collaborative problem-solving in environmental justice conflict situations. Collaborative processes in New York City’s West Harlem, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, California are studied.

Environmental justice conflicts have characteristics that distinguish them from other types of environmental conflicts. The issues in an environmental justice conflict have a human rights orientation and are framed to emphasize dimensions of race, class, discrimination, and injustice. Past procedural injustices and the suppression or inaccessibility of relevant information characterize the nature of the decision-making processes traditionally followed in managing environmental justice conflicts. Parties to an environmental justice conflict have traumatic histories of racial and economic discrimination, different social locations, perceived power differentials, high distrust, low network ties, and incongruent communication norms. These characteristics challenge common assumptions about the nature of collaboration in environmental justice conflict situations.

When presented with opportunities to participate in a collaborative process, environmental justice participants’ incentives to participate were limited. The presence of trusted and respectful leaders who are motivated to build relationships with other groups and communities can transform the nature of the opportunity and enhance participation. Building the capacities of environmental justice participants is important in fostering effective collaborative processes, but it is equally important to build the capacities of all parties engaged in the collaborative process to recognize and address the unique attributes of the environmental justice dimension of the conflict. Finally, the unique characteristics of environmental justice conflicts create complexities in collaborative problem-solving processes that warrant attention in how processes are structured and managed in an environmental justice context.