Developing a socioepistemological approach to environmental education: Contextualizing social justic

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Developing a socio-epistemological approach to
environmental education Contextualizing social
justice in the era of sustainable development

• Paul R. Carr Gina Thésée Youngstown State
  University Université du Québec à Montréal
  Youngstown, Ohio
  Montréal, Québec

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Starting-points

• Who defines the normative values used to
  understand environmental issues?
• How is power structured to shape decision-making
  processes and the allocation of resources with
  regard to the environment?
• Can we understand development outside of the
  economic realm?
• What is the place of social justice within the
  concept/notion/study of the environment?

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Problematic

• The over-development of the North --gt multiple
  vulnerabilities in the South
• Environmental education --gt education
  on/for/about sustainable development
• Colonialist and neo-liberal hegemony invalidate
  knowledge of others
• --gt epistemological racism

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Propositions

• A posture of resistance in which inequitable
  power relations and validation of indigenous
  knowledge are considered (inclusion and social
  justice)
• Inter-/multi-/trans-cultural interchange replaces
  traditional monologue between two inequitable
  parties
• An alternative approachsocio-epistemological
  resistanceis need to ensure a place for
  marginalized cultures
• The environment must be understood in its
  totality, surpassing the economic sphere, and
  including non-imputed damage (war, industry,
  waste, etc.)

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Epistemological racism

• Disqualification, marginalization and exclusion
  of knowledge (colonization of the mind)
• Un-conscious thought and action
• Civilizational scope and impact
• Inter-woven implementation through the
  scientific-military-religious triad
• Whiteness as an infused normative value

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Differentiated geography

• Environmental threatsclimate, chemical, nuclear,
  biological, bacteriological, etc.are connected
  to arms producers/venders/users, multinational
  profiteers, business men with limited ethical
  values, electoral politics, an unconscious
  positivistic science industry, and, in general, a
  number of elites who believe that they are
  morally justified in their actions.
• ? vulnerability
• ? consideration for implication and impact
• The neo-liberal mantra for the environment (4
  Rs)
• Reduce!
• Recover!
• Recycle!
• Re-use!

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Analytical framework

• Necessity (are our actions necessary?)
• Risks (do we evaluate the level of risk for our
  actions?)
• Predictability (do we know of the impact of our
  actions in advance?)
• Objective and result (do we achieve what we plan
  to achieve?)
• Costs and benefits (are we satisfied with the
  results of our actions?)
• Centrality of the environment (what is the place
  of the environment in our actions?)
• Vulnerability (who is the most affected by our
  actions?)
• Social justice (is social justice a part of our
  actions?)

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Five vignettes on the environment, power and
vulnerability

• Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (2005)
• Iraq War (2003 - 2007)
• Invasion into Lebanon (2006)
• Haïti (slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism)
• Aboriginal peoples in Canada (since the beginning
  of contact with Second Peoples)

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Hurricane Katrina (2005)

• Was the damage from the Hurricane foreseeable?
• How were race relations before the Hurricane?
• How was the Hurricane described by the media?
• What was the role of the environment in the
  story?
• What is the linkage with the war in Iraq?
• What was the international reaction?
• How do people live today in New Orleans?
• If New Orleans had been a majority White
  population, would the damage have been as great?

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Hurricane Katrina (2005)

• Other defining points
• The role of race and class
• Who was able to evacuate
• The proposals and cost for reinforcing the levies
  before the Hurricane
• The non-clarity around the number of deceased
• Comments made by the Presidents mother
• Reaction and demeanor of President
• The offer from Cuba to send 500 doctors
• Some religious leaders proclaimed that it was
  justified because of the immorality of New
  Orleans
• The absence of the environment as a story

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Iraq War (2003-2007)

• Was the damage from the War foreseeable?
• How were the ethnic and religious relations
  before the War?
• How was the story recounted by the (embedded)
  media?
• What is the role of the environment in the story?
• Is Shock and Awe an appropriate way to
  characterize the bombing of Baghdad?
• What is the connection between the Iraq War and
  the other 40 conflicts taking place around the
  world?
• What was the international reaction?
• How do Iraqis live today?
• What would have been the reaction if Iraq were
  majority Christian?

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Iraq War (2003-2007)

• Other defining points
• American troops killed (3,700)
• Other Americans (contractors, workers,
  translators) killed (unknown)
• Iraqis killed (40,000 700,000)
• of Americans who still believe that Saddam has
  WMDs (35 - 2006)
• of Iraqis strongly opposed to foreign troop
  precense (82 - 2005)
• US expenditure (700M - 1trillion)
• Number of tons of bombs dropped on Iraq (unknown)
  
• Number of allies involved (approx. 40, with more
  than half having withdrawn few countries with
  more than 300 troops)
• Environmental impact studies (unknown)
• Quality of life since 2003
• Why Iraq and not one of more than the over 40
  other countries which have poor human rights
  records and also pose a presumable threat?
• How has US prestige internationally fared since
  the start of the War?

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Invasion of Lebanon (2006)

• Was the damage foreseeable? Was the suffering
  necessary?
• What were the ethnic and religious relations
  before the invasion?
• How did the media describe/analyze the story?
• What was the role of the environment in the
  Invasion?
• What is the linkage to other wars around the
  world?
• What was the international reaction?
• How do the Lebanese live now?
• What would be the reaction if Lebanon were in
  another region of the world?

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Invasion of Lebanon (2006)

• Other defining points
• Thousands of tons of bombs dropped on Lebanon and
  hundreds of rockets launched at Israel
• Approximately 40 Lebanese die each month from
  unexploded bombs
• Estimated cost of the reconstruction (20B)
• Implications for tourism, business and education
• Approximately 1,500 Lebanese and 30 Israelis
  killed
• Environmental studies undertaken (unknown)
• Assessment from Canadian PM The response from
  Israel was measured

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Lebanon
peopleoflebanon.net/
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Haïti (slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and
neo-liberalism)

• Natural and cultural erosion (tacitly under the
  passive regard of the international community)
• Results profits for others, capital flight,
  cheap labour, absence of labour and environmental
  laws, etc.
• Deforestation (gt90 of the country) potable
  water is not available universally trees for
  fuel open waste sources leading to
  contamination of people and animals
• A forgettable, non-strategic et allied country
  (Haitian refugees vs. Cuban refugees Haitians
  in Dominican Republic)
• No Logo by Naomi Klein
• Poverty is not linked to Northern countries

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http//www.language-works.com/Haiti/photoindex.htm
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http//www.sun-sentinel.com/news/caribbean/sfl-edg
e-n-haitierode,0,2849490.flash
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First Nations (Canada)

• Aboriginal art in Canadian embassies
• Constitutional protection and disrespected
  treaties
• Unacceptable social conditions
• Conflicts over ancestral rights (fishing,
  hunting, natural resources, territorial)
• Oka, Ipperwash, New Brunswick, etc.
• How do the media, the government and society
  perceive these conflicts?
• How is the environment positioned in these
  conflicts?

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Neo-liberalism as the only option

• Neo-liberalism in education
• competition
• standardization
• employability
• testing
• accountability (but for whom and how?)
• What is the place of social justice, citizenship,
  democracy and the environment in education?
• Is there room for political literacy in
  education?

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Questioning the truth

• Is it possible to have a pedagogy for the
  oppressed in order to reverse the destruction of
  the planet and unwavering poverty? (political
  literacy)
• Can intercultural relations address the problem
  of the legitimation of knowledge? (the sociology
  of power)
• How should environmental education be adapted to
  contemporary planetary challenges? (reconciling
  vulnerabilities)

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Environmental education and social justice is it
possible?

• Can North America criticize Brazil over the
  Amazon when it consumes 20 times per capita the
  amount of Southern countries?
• When the North intensifies its militarization,
  including selling arms to the South, with a view
  to increasing employment and profits
  domestically, what should be said and done about
  the destruction of the environment (and poverty)?
  
• Sociology and epistemology
• Questing the neutrality of power
• A challenge for teaching and learning
• How do we speak about critical pedagogy when
  critiquing policy is considered unacceptable?

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Conclusion

• Is there an integration of cultural knowledge
  within environmental education?
• Philosophical foundations, epistemological
  perspectives, critical postures, social
  understanding and political movement How do they
  coalesce around the fundamental tenets of
  teaching environmental education?
• Proposition a socio-epistemological educational
  approach to resistance

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The socio-epistemological educational approach to
resistance

• Empowerment, political literacy, social justice
  and critical pedagogy
• The 4 Rs
• Refuse
• Re-question
• Re-define
• Re-affirm

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• Merci
• Thank You
• Obrigado
• Gracias
• Mési anpil