Pursuing Justice for All: Collaborative Problem-Solving in the Environmental Justice Context

Abstract

Abstract

Although collaborative processes are being promoted as a strategy for managing environmental justice conflicts, the factors that promote and hinder effective collaboration in cases of environmental justice have not been investigated. This study uses a case study approach to provide a nuanced insight into how two attributes of environmental justice conflicts, issue framing and traumatic histories, influence collaborative problem-solving. These attributes challenge common assumptions about the nature of collaboration in environmental justice situations by limiting participants' perceptions of interdependence and inciting the need to build the capacities of all parties engaged in the collaboration. Collaborative processes in New York City's West Harlem, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, California are studied.