{"title":"How fair is our air? The injustice of procedure, distribution, and recognition within the discourse of air pollution in Delhi, India","authors":"Bhavna Joshi, Pradip Swarnakar","doi":"10.1080/23251042.2022.2151398","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The risk profile of air pollution generates multiple meanings of justice for diverse stakeholders. We examined 535 articles from two Indian newspapers published between 2017 and 2020 and obtained 13 concepts of justice pertinent to ambient air pollution in Delhi. Employing the theoretical perspective of environmental justice, we observed the prevalence of procedural and distributive justice discourses with dominant participation from non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Recognition justice emerged the most underrepresented of all discourses. We used Discourse Network Analysis to reveal the prominence of Indian citizens, the Supreme Court of India, and farmers in the justice debate, and an overall restricted participation of the government bodies. Our findings highlight polarization among the academic and the non-academic actors on the disproportionate effect of air pollution. For air pollution mitigation in Delhi, we suggest organized and inclusive participation by diverse stakeholders in decision-making, acknowledging socio-cultural differences among populations.","PeriodicalId":54173,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Sociology","volume":"9 1","pages":"176 - 189"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Sociology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2022.2151398","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
ABSTRACT The risk profile of air pollution generates multiple meanings of justice for diverse stakeholders. We examined 535 articles from two Indian newspapers published between 2017 and 2020 and obtained 13 concepts of justice pertinent to ambient air pollution in Delhi. Employing the theoretical perspective of environmental justice, we observed the prevalence of procedural and distributive justice discourses with dominant participation from non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Recognition justice emerged the most underrepresented of all discourses. We used Discourse Network Analysis to reveal the prominence of Indian citizens, the Supreme Court of India, and farmers in the justice debate, and an overall restricted participation of the government bodies. Our findings highlight polarization among the academic and the non-academic actors on the disproportionate effect of air pollution. For air pollution mitigation in Delhi, we suggest organized and inclusive participation by diverse stakeholders in decision-making, acknowledging socio-cultural differences among populations.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Sociology is dedicated to applying and advancing the sociological imagination in relation to a wide variety of environmental challenges, controversies and issues, at every level from the global to local, from ‘world culture’ to diverse local perspectives. As an international, peer-reviewed scholarly journal, Environmental Sociology aims to stretch the conceptual and theoretical boundaries of both environmental and mainstream sociology, to highlight the relevance of sociological research for environmental policy and management, to disseminate the results of sociological research, and to engage in productive dialogue and debate with other disciplines in the social, natural and ecological sciences. Contributions may utilize a variety of theoretical orientations including, but not restricted to: critical theory, cultural sociology, ecofeminism, ecological modernization, environmental justice, organizational sociology, political ecology, political economy, post-colonial studies, risk theory, social psychology, science and technology studies, globalization, world-systems analysis, and so on. Cross- and transdisciplinary contributions are welcome where they demonstrate a novel attempt to understand social-ecological relationships in a manner that engages with the core concerns of sociology in social relationships, institutions, practices and processes. All methodological approaches in the environmental social sciences – qualitative, quantitative, integrative, spatial, policy analysis, etc. – are welcomed. Environmental Sociology welcomes high-quality submissions from scholars around the world.