Structural violence and environmental injustice: the case of a US–Mexico border chemical plant

Environmental injustice along the US–Mexico border: residential proximity to industrial parks in Tijuana, Mexico

“…For example, out of the 190 plants that provided training to their engineers and technicians, only three had done so in relation to environmental standards (Schatan and Castilleja 2005). Additionally, the factories have the power to quell community resistance to their operations at the local level due to the steady supply of labor available along the border, close relationships with municipal authorities, and the vast economic resources of their transnational parent companies, which far outweigh local resources and can be marshaled toward halting mobilizations (Morales et al 2012). Taken together, this evidence suggests that the assumption we make in this paper that there are risks associated with living near industrial parks in Tijuana is tenable.…”

Space for equity: socioeconomic variations in the provision of public parks in Hermosillo, Mexico

“…Although there are a number of analytical and empirical difficulties associated with linking globalisation and the territorial configuration and functioning of cities in the developing world, border cities are places where global forces are more intensively felt, and therefore, where the global-to-local connection can be examined and reconceptualised in a more complete way (Herzog, 1991, Esparza et al 2004, Morales et al 2012. Because their peripheral location between the global north and the global south, cities in the USMexico border region are "containers of accelerating first world-third world integration" (Herzog 1991, p. 520), foretelling changes in economic orientation, governance and the spatial organisation of cities in developing countries.…”

“…Beyond the inconclusiveness of the research in this area, studies seldom inquire about the forces and processes leading to the reported outcomes, no matter if they are supportive or not of the spatial equity hypothesis. As suggested by a growing group of authors, history and place-based processes as well as procedural analysis are critical to understand existing and measurable distributional equity patterns (Boone et al 2009, Morales et al 2012. With this idea as the backdrop, this article explores the variations in provision of public parks in the city of Hermosillo while trying to characterise observable socio-spatial inequities in the context of rapid urban change and globalisation.…”

From ColonizingContractto DecolonizingCovenant

“…Oscar Morales et al select Solvay for their in-depth case study because "it is the most dangerous factory in the El Paso-Ju arez region, and one with the potential to create a Bhopal-type disaster." 17 This case study is mainly based on the authors' 15 in-depth interviews with chemical plant workers and local people, including former plant employees, current business owners, workers, and customers. Solvay is one of the largest producers of hydrofluoric acid (HF) in the world, and HF is a highly corrosive acid that is very dangerous to handle and that has been listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Title III Hazardous Air Pollutant.…”

“…24 Structural violence also emphasizes several aspects of "socio-environmental marginality," including the embodiment of the sufferings of the poor as well as the importance of global scale and historical processes. 25 According to Young, structural injustice exists when large groups of persons are put under the systematic threat of domination or deprivation of the means to develop their capacities by social processes, while others are allowed to dominate these processes, having various opportunities to exercise their capacities. 26 Above we have reviewed how multi-national companies and corporations are deeply connected to the environmental degradation of the less developed countries such as Mexico; we have also examined how widespread environmental injustice directly affects the public health of many people living near the maquiladora industries.…”