Environmental Justice: A Content Analysis of Room for the River in Overdiepse Polder, Netherlands
摘要
Are environmental litigations and policies neutral? Do all communities and individuals in a societySociety suffer proportionately from environmental harm, climate changeClimate change, and subsequent mitigationMitigation and adaptation interventions? Researchers indicate that certain adaptation interventions may unintentionally worsen the vulnerability of the most disadvantaged communities, leading to injustice and marginalization of underprivileged groups who have the least socio-political power, such as communities of color, women, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged. Consequently, it becomes imperative to integrate the concept of environmental justiceEnvironmental Justice when formulating and executing environmental policies, as well as adaptation interventions. This study undertakes a comprehensive critical analysis of the adaptation intervention titled “Room for the River in Overdiepse Polder, Netherlands” to ascertain the degree to which this project incorporates the concept of environmental justiceEnvironmental Justice. The analysis is based on the environmental justiceEnvironmental Justice framework proposed by Schlosberg and Fraser. To address the research question, a qualitative content analysisContent analysis method was employed to evaluate the consideration of environmental justiceEnvironmental Justice in this program. For the research process, Atlas.ti, a qualitative research tool, was used to facilitate the processing and analysis of documents. The findings revealed a mixed scenario, indicating some positive signs of justice as the local community engaged in the project. However, there were discernible signs of injustice, notably the displacement of half of the farmers who had leased their land, rendering them more vulnerable than their counterparts. Additionally, power imbalances were observed in the decision-making process of the project. It can be asserted that the application of environmental justiceEnvironmental Justice in this project was somewhat limited.