Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism

Karen Bell, Karen Bell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000390353
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Environment & Energy Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book discusses how to develop green transitions which benefit, include and respect marginalised social groups.

Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism explores the challenge of taking into account issues of equity and justice in the green transformation and shows that ignoring these issues risks exacerbating the gap between the rich and the poor, the marginalised and included, and undermining widespread support for climate change mitigation. Expert contributors provide evidence and analysis in relation to the thinking and practice that has prevented us from building a broad base of people who are willing and able to take the action necessary to successfully overcome the current ecological crises. Providing examples from a wide range of marginalised and/or oppressed groups including women, disabled people, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and others (LGBTQ+) community, the authors demonstrate how the issues and concerns of these groups are often undervalued in environmental policy-making and environmental social movements. Overall, this book supports environmental academics and practitioners to choose and campaign for effective, equitable and widely supported environmental policy, thereby enabling a smoother transition to sustainability.

This volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners of environmental justice, social and environmental policy, planning and environmental sociology.

1

Diversity and inclusion in environmentalism

Karen Bell

Introduction

This book grew out of the belief that everyone has a place in the environmental movement and that environmentalism has an essential place in the equalities movements. It aims to build and develop bridges between the equalities and environmental communities. To do this, the authors encourage environmentalism to become an inclusive and diverse coalition, and advocate a widening of the equalities agenda to include the relevant sustainability issues. It is our hope that reading this book could support the process of generating these understandings and connections, and creating a movement that unites environmental and social justice. This movement would be effective and relevant, addressing the needs and perspectives of all and valuing all voices.

At a time of supposed ‘culture wars’ (Hunter, 1991) where, it is argued, society has become increasingly polarised, sometimes around identity issues, it seems important to stress that this book is about facilitating solidarity and not creating divisions. The divisions are already there but we cannot eradicate them unless we are honest about the barriers to creating unity. These barriers include attitudes, beliefs, policies, practices and cultures. But this is not solely about oppression – the forthcoming chapters often point out how different diverse groups are actually or potentially active contributors to environmentalism. In this context, the book authors have endeavoured to explain the barriers to engaging with mainstream environmentalism and offer suggestions as to how to overcome these hindrances. In addition to having academic expertise, the authors almost all come from the backgrounds they are writing about. They write from personal experience, as well as knowledge based on their academic research and/or community practice. It is impossible to be comprehensive in the one chapter dedicated to each social demographic. However, each chapter highlights some of the main issues that need to be addressed and provides insights and resources which will hopefully encourage and enable further reading and investigation.

Language is, of course, important in discussions of diversity and inclusion. The separate chapters discuss the rationale for the specific language used in relation to the group focussed on. When discussing, collectively, the eight socio-economic groups addressed in this book, that is, women, disabled people etc., we use general terms such as ‘marginalised people/groups/communities’, ‘disadvantaged people/groups/communities’, ‘equalities people/groups/communities’ and ‘oppressed people/groups/communities’. While these terms may not exactly apply to all of the eight demographic groups highlighted in the chapters, they are used here as short-hand terms.

From different positions, according to each author’s positionality and expertise, this book will identify, explain and make recommendations on how to overcome the barriers to creating a diverse and inclusive environmental movement, as well as an environmentally focussed equalities movement. It will be of use to environmental activists, environmental practitioners, urban and rural planners, environmental policymakers, equalities activists, equalities practitioners and equalities policymakers. The first section of this chapter discusses the rationale for the book. This is followed by a section on definitions so as to clarify the scope and focus. The final section of the chapter describes the structure and contents of the book.

Why do we need inclusion and diversity in environmentalism?

The main reason that we need greater inclusion and diversity in environmentalism is that we need to bring as many on board as possible to the cause of transitioning to sustainability. This will help to ensure that sustainability can be achieved rapidly, effectively and equitably. We are facing multiple environmental crises and, therefore, we need to address this challenge in a timely and just manner. In 2015, the Stockholm Resilience Centre published a report showing that, as the result of the overuse and misuse of resources, we have either crossed or are about to cross, nine earth system ‘planetary boundaries’ beyond which there will be irreversible impacts such that the survival of humanity will be threatened (Steffen et al., 2015). We have already overstepped some of these boundaries, with climate change but one of the nine boundaries that we are currently transgressing. It is already possible to see the results of this in the form of more intense floods, hurricanes, heat-waves, droughts and famines. Similarly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018) stated that we must reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 in order to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming to the critical 1.5°C. They warned then that we may have only 12 years to avoid irreversible negative consequences resulting from overstepping this boundary (IPCC, 2018). The report advocated rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented societal transformation to avert the worst scenarios.

Following this, the first Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report (IPBES, 2019) was published, which found widespread, accelerating and unprecedented declines in the Earth’s biodiversity. It warned that by jeopardising the health of ecosystems, we are eroding the foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life (IPBES, 2019). Again, the report stated that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global. This year, another concerning report was published, which reinforced this message. The latest of the regular Living Planet Reports of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, 2020) stated that our planet’s wildlife populations have now plummeted by 68% since 1970.

Just these four assessments alone indicate the urgency and seriousness of the situation and the necessity to undertake a rapid and effective transition to sustainability. They also show that technical innovation will not be enough. Structural and institutional change is needed as well as a wide-scale transformation in the beliefs, attitudes and behaviour of individuals. These are just a few of the issues among very many that we now face, indicating the urgency to bring as many on board as possible to the task of transitioning to sustainability. A large mass movement of environmentalists can pressurise politicians, the media, scientists and businesses to focus their efforts on addressing the problems described. Though many are now coming around to supporting environmentalism, given the urgency and gravity of the situation, we would expect to see more people pressing for this change. Therefore, work to enable greater involvement is required, and this includes some self-reflection on the part of environmentalists.

Why environmental campaigns need to change

This is a crucial time to look at how bridges can be developed between environmentalists and equalities communities so as to ensure that environmental issues are adequately addressed in ways that are attuned to social and cultural difference. As this book describes, one reason that environmentalism has been limited in terms of membership and impact is that it has not been adequately diverse and inclusive. It is not alone in failing to be as inclusive as it could be – many contemporary social movements are divided along lines of race, sexuality, ethnicity, and class, among other issues (Echols, 1989; Gitlin, 1995; Tarrow, 1998; Snow and McAdam, 2000). However, given the urgency of the situation, it is particularly important to address this issue within environmentalism. If the environmental movement can be more inclusive, it can improve its influence on policy and society.

Another reason that it is essential to include equalities considerations in environmentalism is that environmental degradation and its impact on human well-being is not distributed evenly. It tends to reflect underlying patterns of oppression (Bullard, 1990; Bryant and Mohai, 1992; Morello-Frosch et al., 2002; Pellow and Park, 2003; Prakash, 2007). For example, it is now well documented that, in general, minority ethnic and working-class people in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) tend to live nearer to polluting facilities (e.g. Heiman, 1996; United Church of Christ 1987, 2007; FoE, 2001; Walker et al., 2003). They are also more likely to be exposed to environmental contaminants, in general (Cutter and Solecki, 1996; Morello-Frosch et al., 2002; Morley, 2006; Milojevic et al., 2017). The environmental justice movement has drawn attention to these disparate burdens (Taylor, 1993; Sze and London, 2008; Haluza-Delay et al., 2009).

Environmental justice academics and analysts have also highlighted the White¹, middle-class, male, heteronormative and disablist nature of mainstream environmentalism in the Global North (e.g. Taylor, 1993; Sze and London, 2008; Haluza-Delay et al., 2009; Bell, 2016; Feliz Brueck and McNeill, 2020). This critique has been applied to both its membership and campaign focus (e.g. Finney, 2004; Harper, 2009; Palamar, 2008; Taylor, 1993, 2000). Some might argue that we should not focus on identities which emphasise difference but, rather, on commonalities in order to build a movement. However, existing scholarship on social movements that attribute success to shared identities does not take into account relations of domination among its activists. Domination occurs, as Young (2000, p. 32) observed, where ‘… other persons or groups can determine without reciprocation the conditions of their actions’. When some social groups dominate others, there can be greater levels of misunderstanding and conflict. Such domination obstructs the development of shared identities (Weldon, 2006), for example, as environmentalists. Historically marginalised groups, even if nominally included, often perceive more privileged groups in social movements to be dominating in decision-making. At ...