Borderland environmental justice and governance apertures

ABSTRACT

The theorization of borderland environmental justice is expanded by examining the specificities of fragmented governance and accountability and how this affects environmental injustice in the region. I argue that borderland environmental justice is distinct from U.S.-based environmental justice because of the congruence of three elements: socio-economic and ecological integration, the core-periphery relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, and the fragmented governance in the region. These elements are both a source of environmental injustices and also provide apertures for community activists to access international forums in order to meet their movement goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental justice
• U.S.-Mexico border region
• environmental governance
• social movement strategies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.