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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 209
A brief history of the emergence
of environmental justice
Environmental justice as a research framework is being used increasingly broadly
owing to its interdisciplinary approach. It is a narrative applied by environmentalist
movements fighting for social justice and equal opportunities and by scientific
research alike. This is because science-based environmental justice research is rooted
in the environmental justice movement (Malovics 2012a; Martin et al. 2014).
Environmental justice research therefore reflects the main ideas of the struggle and
movement for civil rights, voluntariness, from grassroots organization, the basic
tenets of activism for equal rights and movements against exclusion and segregation.
This explains why initial research on environmental justice was tightly connected
to the civil rights movements in the United States, the legacy of which is manifest
in the commitment to activism.
One of the basic principles of environmental justice research is that minorities
and the lower strata are absent from the decision-making, institutional system,
and structures of mainstream environmentalism (Malovics 2012a). Hence, the
interests of such groups are not represented in decisions. As a consequence,
environmental decisions are one-sided and biased (Faber — Mc Carthy 2001;
Walker 2006). This fails to adhere to the principle of broad bottom-up communal
decision-making and focuses only on environmental problems relevant to certain
social groups, thus bringing them into the spotlight.
The book Silent Spring (Carson 1962) can be viewed as a historical antecedent
to the movement of environmental justice. It also marks the beginning of public
and state environmentalism (Rakonczai 2003). The book received its title from
the sad fact that pesticides in the described region had poisoned the birds and no
birdsong could be heard that year. Carson’s book contributed to the environmental
awakening of the public and the minorities (Newton 2009). Scholars of
environmental justice agree that the decisive moment of environmental justice
can be traced to the act of resistance in Warren County, North Carolina, on 15
September 1982. Along the roads of North Carolina, nearly 120,000 liters of
polychlorinated biphenyl (PBC) was poured out, producing some 150 m? of
contaminated soil (Newton 2009). The state decided to deposit the polluted soil
removed in the procedure of remediation in a landfill near Shocco village, Warren
district. The procedure, however, did not satisfy the regulations, as there was no
aquitard for the landfill and the depth of burial was insufficient. The citizens of
Warren county and Shocco village, one of the economically most underdeveloped
areas, were mostly African Americans with a lack of resources and professional
knowledge. They took to protesting with their bodies to prevent the implementation
of the state decision. Over 500 protesters were arrested, and although the protest
was unsuccessful and the polluted soil was buried, it marked the first time in
history that a poor African American community joined forces and stood up for
their equal environmental rights (Newton 2009). The case revealed that
environmental threats do not affect everybody equally; poorer, low-status, minority
groups are more exposed to risks from dangerous or toxic matter, inadequate
working circumstances, polluted air and other environmental harms than the more
affluent or majority groups (Wiles 1985). In response to continuously growing