St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

The construction of feelings of justice in environmental management : an empirical study of multiple biodiversity conflicts in Calakmul, Mexico

Thumbnail
View/Open
Lecuyer_2018_JEM_Feelingsofjustice_AAM.pdf (937.1Kb)
Date
01/05/2018
Author
Lecuyer, Lou
White, Rehema M.
Schmook, Birgit
Lemay, Violaine
Calmé, Sophie
Keywords
Fairness
Procedural justice
Distributive justice
Ecological justice
Recognition justice
G Geography (General)
HD28 Management. Industrial Management
NDAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
A failure to address social concerns in biodiversity conservation can lead to feelings of injustice among some actors, and hence jeopardize conservation goals. The complex socio-cultural and political context of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, has historically led to multiple biodiversity conflicts. Our goal, in this case study, was to explore perceptions of justice held by local actors in relation to biodiversity conflicts. We then aimed to determine the following: 1) people's definitions of their feelings of justice; 2) the criteria used in this assessment; 3) variability in the criteria influencing them; and 4) implications for environmental management in the region and beyond. We worked with five focus groups, exploring three examples of biodiversity conflict around forest, water and jaguar management with a total of 41 ranchers, farmers and representatives of local producers. Our results demonstrated that people constructed their feelings of justice around four dimensions of justice: recognition (acknowledging individuals' rights, values, cultures and knowledge systems); ecological (fair and respectful treatment of the natural environment), procedural (fairness in processes of environmental management), distributive (fairness in the distribution of costs and benefits). We identified a list of criteria the participants used in their appraisal of justice and sources of variation such as the social scale of focus and participant role, and whom they perceived to be responsible for resource management. We propose a new framework that conceptualizes justice-as-recognition and ecological justice as forms of conditional justices, and procedural and distributive justices as forms of practical justice. Conditional justice allows us to define who is a legitimate source of justice norms and if nature should be integrated in the scope of justice; hence, conditional justice underpins other dimensions of justice. On the other hand, procedural and distributive address the daily practices of fair processes and distribution. We propose that the perception of justice is a neglected but important aspect to include in integrative approaches to managing biodiversity conflicts. Addressing demands of justice in environmental management will require us to consider more than the distribution of costs and benefits among actors. We also need to respect the plurality of fairness perspectives and to recognize the benefits of dialogical approaches to achieve more successful environmental management.
Citation
Lecuyer , L , White , R M , Schmook , B , Lemay , V & Calmé , S 2018 , ' The construction of feelings of justice in environmental management : an empirical study of multiple biodiversity conflicts in Calakmul, Mexico ' , Journal of Environmental Management , vol. 213 , pp. 363-373 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.050
Publication
Journal of Environmental Management
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.050
ISSN
0301-4797
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.050
Description
Funding was provided by MITACS through a Globalink Research Award to MLL, BS and SC, a José-Sarukhan Excellence Award given by the Centro del Cambio Global y Sustentabilidad del Sureste to MLL, an Excellence Award from the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science to MLL, and a grant from the Université de Sherbrooke to SC.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17301

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

  • Just transition : integrating climate, energy and environmental justice 

    McCauley, Darren; Heffron, Raphael (2018-08) - Journal article
    Just transition is a new framework of analysis that brings together climate, energy and environmental justice scholarships. It was originally coined as a term that was designed to link the promotion of clean technology ...
  • The concept of energy justice across the disciplines 

    Heffron, Raphael J.; McCauley, Darren (2017-06) - Journal article
    Over the last decade, ‘Energy Justice’ is a concept that has emerged in research across many disciplines. This research explores the role and value of the energy justice concept across the disciplines. It provides the first ...
  • Commutative justice 

    Mildenberger, Carl David (University of St Andrews, 2016-12-01) - Thesis
    The purpose of this thesis is to present a conception of commutative justice. Commutative justice is defined as that part of justice in transfer (as opposed to justice in acquisition as well as distributive or rectificatory ...
Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter