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Legal mobilisation and environmental activism in Wallonia (Belgium): where is Environmental Justice?
Lejeune, Zoé
2013ECPR General Conference
 

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Abstract :
[en] Environmental justice (EJ) is an important field of research in the USA (Mohai and Bryant 1992, Schlosberg 1999, Bullard 2000, Pellow 2000, Agyeman 2002, Kurtz 2003, Holifield 2009) as well as a framework for grassroots movements and activists who seek to defend their rights to a healthy environment. Environmental inequalities, as they are commonly called in Europe (Emelianoff 2006, Cornut, Bauler et al. 2007, Walker and Eames 2008, Faburel 2012, Walker 2012), are a growing field of research but they are not seen as a specific frame for action and collective mobilisation in Belgium. The use of legal mobilisation as a strategy to fight environmental inequalities in Wallonia (Belgium) is discussed in this paper. I propose to examine access to justice in the field of environmental protection and to link it to considerations in terms of environmental justice, that is to say cases in which groups see themselves as victims of a disproportionate burden of environmental bads (such as exposure to pollution, vicinity to industrial plants, or waste dumps). This paper explores (1) how environmental NGOs and activists can mobilise the law to denounce environmental conflicts and inequalities providing insights into an environmental inequalities perspective on access to justice in Belgium. It also offers an innovative approach to environmental inequalities and justice in Belgium (2) by asking: how is EJ conceived and integrated in environmental research and litigation? Starting on the premise of a weak literature and scholarship on environmental inequalities, I will propose some new avenues for research on these topics in Belgium. For this paper, empirical evidence is based, on the one hand, on legal texts and litigation in Belgium and, on the other hand, on open-ended interviews with stakeholders in Wallonia – main political parties, environmental NGOs, legal practitioners, trade unions, and public institutions.
Research center :
European Studies Unit
Lepur : Centre de Recherche sur la Ville, le Territoire et le Milieu rural - ULiège
Disciplines :
Political science, public administration & international relations
Author, co-author :
Lejeune, Zoé  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de science politique > Politique européenne
Language :
English
Title :
Legal mobilisation and environmental activism in Wallonia (Belgium): where is Environmental Justice?
Publication date :
07 September 2013
Number of pages :
27
Event name :
ECPR General Conference
Event organizer :
European Consortium for Political Research
Event place :
Bordeaux, France
Event date :
du 4 au 7 septembre 2013
Audience :
International
Name of the research project :
Les inégalités environnementales en Wallonie : une approche politologique et territoriale (titre provisoire)
Funders :
IWEPS - Institut Wallon de l'Évaluation, de la Prospective et de la Statistique [BE]
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since 26 September 2014

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