Diverse environmentalism and inclusivity in Toronto’s Green Economy

ABSTRACT

Green economy and green jobs continue to be contested discourses that privilege stakeholders, such as green businesses and policy makers. However, less consideration has been given to how those seeking green economy employment contribute to the environmental knowledge about the green economy and green jobs. As part of the regard for social inclusion in the green economy, scholars and policy makers have given less consideration to how marginalized workers (such as racialized immigrants) seeking employment in the green economy in developed countries negotiate their understandings of the environment. In an effort to address this gap in the framing of green economy discourses, this paper uses an environmental justice framework to examine how racialized immigrants perceive environmentalism and how it aligns with the green economy labor market. Drawing on the findings of ‘The Green Gap: Toward Inclusivity in Toronto’s Green Economy’ study, this paper addresses the consequences of shared or different understandings of environmental knowledge in terms of the impact for the green economy labor market and recommendations for how to move toward social inclusion in green economy discourses by including diverse approaches to environmental knowledge.

KEYWORDS:

• Social inclusion
• green economy
• green jobs
• environmental justice
• climate change

Acknowlegement

This research is also supported by a grant from the Social Science Research Council of Canada. As Principal Investigator, I would like to acknowledge The Green Gap study co-investigators (Dr. Poland, Dr. Galabuzi, and Dr. Ng) and Laura Zeglen, the Project Coordinator. This paper is sole authored.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. In this paper, I use the term ‘racialized immigrant’ for two reasons. First, an increasing number of the immigrants to Toronto are racial minorities. Second, regardless of immigrants’ country of origin, they experience racialization, or the process of differential treatment, as an outcome of the immigration and settlement process (Sáenz and Douglas 2015).

2. Engaging with the debates related to ecological modernization is outside of the scope of this article. Please see Hajer’s (1995) work for a consideration of ecological modernization.

3. As the Principal Investigator, I would like to acknowledge The Green Gap study co-investigators (Dr. Poland, Dr. Galabuzi, and Dr. Ng) and Laura Zeglen, the Project Coordinator. This research was also supported by a grant from the Social Science Research Council of Canada.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes on contributors

Cheryl Teelucksingh

Professor Teelucksingh’s research over the last twenty years has focused on examining the relationship between environmental justice in Canada and concerns for social inequality. Dr. Teelucksingh also has participated in SSHRC and CIHR funded grants as well as numerous publications in the areas of environmental justice and racialization in Canada. She is currently lead principal investigator for the SSHRC funded (2013-2016) grant ‘The Green Gap: Toward Inclusivity in Toronto’s Green Employment’ (B. Poland, G.E. Galabuzi, and W. Ng co-applicants). This study engages with the need to understand shared and conflicting meanings about green jobs as the green economy is emerging from the perspective of Toronto’s diverse population. Her research uses a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore her areas of interest, including community-based research.

Source: http://www.ryerson.ca/sociology/about-us/faculty/faculty-bios/teelucksinghc/