Situated, Networked Environmentalisms: A Case for Environmental Theory from the South

Abstract

There has long been a notable difference between the environmentalism of the global North and South. Despite this and recent calls for the development of theory from the global South, research on environmentalism in the global South continues to largely employ Northern theory. While much of this seeks to inform and revise theory, and a case has been made for the articulation of an environmentalism of the poor, work in the South remains dominated by framings and questions articulated in the North. In this paper, I examine geographical research to make a case for also articulating situated environmentalisms which move beyond the generalization of Southern environmentalism to investigate how the environment is understood in specific contexts. Such environmentalisms should not be seen as developed in isolation but are recognized as products of intra-and international networked engagements. I explore this argument through the case of geographical research in South Africa. My review of the literature suggests that work in South Africa largely speaks to international environmental discourses and environmental management and governance theories. While this research productively engages with global academia and environmentalisms, it overlooks many significant questions and how the local context matters. I argue that this is not simply a case of South African exceptionalism, but instead, that there is a need to more broadly consider situated, networked environmentalism in both the global North and South.

Scale and the construction of environmental imaginaries in local news

“…These imaginaries quilt together divergent communities in different places by situating them in the context of either global environmental catastrophe (Baeten, 2002;Kallis and March, 2014;Strauss, 2014;Braun, 2015) or global responsibility in the age of the Anthropocene (Lipset, 2014;Derickson and MacKinnon, 2015;Gandy, 2015). Importantly, Martinez-Alier (2003 has challenged the universalism of global discourses, proposing that we also consider the -environmentalism of the poor‖, though this has been critiqued for obscuring local differences (Lawhon, 2013).…”

Special issue: environmental justice and epistemic violence

“…Environmental justice scholars have commented upon the distinctions that can be made between Northern and Southern understanding of environmental injustice (Martinez-Alier 2002;Lawhon 2013). Lawhon observes that the transplantation of a northern environmental justice discourse to the South has hampered a contextualised and localised understanding of the relationship between poverty and environmental injustice.…”

“…Lawhon observes that the transplantation of a northern environmental justice discourse to the South has hampered a contextualised and localised understanding of the relationship between poverty and environmental injustice. Even though environmental justice has adapted to some extent to local circumstances and has reformulated itself as being adaptable to different geographical contexts, there is still a pressing need to move beyond a northern theoretical understanding of environmental justice (Lawhon 2013).…”

Provincializing urban appropriation: Agonistic transgression as a mode of actually existing appropriation in South African cities

“…Although inspired by both Lefebvre and Bayat, our intention here has been to identify what lies outside rather than seek to further revise their theorizations; we believe that stretching these concepts further would decrease their analytical specificity and utility. Further, as Lawhon () shows, starting with established theories can mask other ongoing processes, particularly in Southern cases. Thus, rather than amend or refine, we offer an alternative framing to understand different types of urban appropriation and their multiple, contextual potentials for urban justice.…”