Indigenous Struggles, Environmental Justice, and Community Capabilities

TLDR

Environmental justice is commonly understood as the distribution of environmental goods and harms, and scholars also emphasize cultural recognition and political participation. The article proposes a capabilities‑based conception of environmental justice, arguing that indigenous environmental challenges reveal a broad, complex view centered on individual and community capabilities and basic functionings. The authors provide a theoretical justification for a capabilities‑based approach to environmental justice. Two in‑depth case studies from the US and Chile illustrate that indigenous environmental justice struggles articulate community capabilities and functioning, underscoring the importance of social and cultural reproduction.

Abstract

Environmental justice is often defined in terms of the distribution (or maldistribution) of environmental goods and bads. Activists and scholars have also focused on issues of cultural recognition and political participation. This article posits a capabilities-based conception of environmental justice. We argue that environmental challenges raised by indigenous communities demonstrate a broad, complex conception of environmental justice focused on a range of capabilities and basic functionings, at both the individual and community levels. We begin with a theoretical justification for a capabilities-based approach to understanding environmental justice. We then offer two in-depth case studies from the US and Chile, to illustrate our argument that indigenous environmental justice struggles clearly articulate themes of community capabilities and functioning, highlighting the importance of social and cultural reproduction.