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27 - Environmental Justice and Capitalism

from Part V - Social Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2020

By
Leslie King
Edited by
Katharine Legun ,
Julie C. Keller ,
Michael Carolan  and
Michael M. Bell
Katharine Legun
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Julie C. Keller
Affiliation:
University of Rhode Island
Michael Carolan
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Michael M. Bell
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Summary

In this chapter, I link environmental sociology scholarship on capitalism and environment to research on environmental justice more specifically. Critical environmental sociology holds that capitalism is predicated on inequalities and that capitalist production and consumption practices create negative environmental consequences.Because these features are fundamental to capitalism, environmental injustices are almost certain to occur.I make the case that capitalism is not necessarily reformable via technological advances and government actions, as suggested by ecological modernization proponents.Government policies often support business and growth and have thus far failed to adequately address environmental inequities. I suggest that critical sociologists should continue to uncover and investigate the legal and financial structures from which corporate actors derive power and continue to demand changes to current economic structures.

Keywords

environmental justicecapitalismecological modernizationinequalitiescorporate power
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology , pp. 452 - 469
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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