Research
You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.
Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
Books: Research
How does a Forstian theory of transnational justice help us understand regional governance structures of the Arctic, such as the Arctic Council, and how could it contribute to implementing procedural aspects of justice? The purpose of this chapter is to discuss transnational justice for the Arctic, taking into account the regional, indigenous and environmental aspects of this specific region. Based on literature reviews on normative traditions of justice, the account suggested here draws on Critical Theory, primarily the work of Rainer Forst (2001, 2014 and 2020). The suggested framework proposes normative criteria required for a comprehensive theory of Arctic justice. In addition, it also recommends an analytical structure for assessing justice in the Arctic. The guiding principles suggested as the backbone for a theory of Arctic justice are reciprocity, generality, transparency and responsibility. Inherently important in the current structure are also the principle of sovereignty and the ‘all affected’ principle, which are discussed and assessed in this chapter.
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Offering a unique introduction to the study of justice in the European, North American and Russian Arctic, this collection considers the responsibilities and failures of justice for environment and society in the region.
Inspired by key thinkers in justice, this book highlights the real and practical consequences of postcolonial legacies, climate change and the regions’ incorporation into the international political economy. The chapters feature liberal, cosmopolitan, feminist, as well as critical justice perspectives from experts with decades of research experience in the Arctic. Moving from a critique of current failures, the collection champions an ethical and sustainable future for Arctic development and governance.
This chapter focuses on the challenges of transitioning toward just and sustainable energy systems in the Arctic. Whereas the need for moving away from fossil fuels, and oil and gas in particular, is widely understood and supported, the transition is slowed by a host of socio-economic challenges, especially in the regions with a history of oil and gas production. The Arctic is among such regions with over a hundred years of oil and gas development and a high degree of reliance on fossil fuels for energy services. This chapter examines an approach for addressing these challenges to the energy transition in the Arctic region through the affirmative and prohibitive principles of energy justice based on collective capabilities. An analytical framework for assessing collective capabilities needed for the energy transition is introduced and discussed.
This chapter examines the history of Forest Sámi colonialism in northern Finland, the current strong economic development in their territories, and related issues of justice. It is recognized that the history of the Forest Sámi is a darker chapter in (Swedish) Finnish history, and it has been strongly impacted by colonization as well as the resilience of generations seeking justice to ensure the survival of their culture, language and way of life. The situation in Finland has become even more complex in recent years. The Forest Sámi group is fighting for their rights to land and water in their traditional territories and struggling to recognize their identity within the Sámi community. This legal-historical chapter investigates current economic development in the northern parts of Finland and shows how the Forest Sámi’s reindeer husbandry and other traditional land use have been taken into account. An additional perspective is illuminated: how the European Union (EU) and Finnish national needs to support green energy and climate goals are paradoxical; while supporting one another, they also turn their back on each other, through an immersed colonialism.
Justice is for many a reiterative and ongoing process. To see where, for whom and how justice can be achieved begins by identifying both existing and potential future injustices that form the epicentre from where transformation can emerge. The work of this volume has intended to introduce justice to the conversation on development and research on the Arctic, but also to flag injustice and to bring forth new ideas. In this conclusion, we discuss some of the key findings of the chapters, and how the chapters relate and speak to each other, and this final chapter concludes with a few ideas for further research. In this chapter, we are returning to the notions of justice and injustice, and we address how these concepts have been useful in the analyses in the preceding chapters.
This chapter focuses on procedural and intergenerational justice within the context of solar radiation management and ice-geoengineering in the Arctic. Research has framed geoengineering as an option to avoid the more disastrous consequences of climate change in the Arctic, but the development and potential application of geoengineering in the Arctic may affect Indigenous participation. Indeed, thus far there has been very limited dialogue and engagement on geoengineering research and development with Arctic Indigenous peoples. The challenge is to ensure Indigenous participation in this highly complex issue, as the current legal framework for participation may be ill-equipped to deal with the introduction of geoengineering and intergenerational justice. Thus, the introduction of geoengineering equally has the potential to exacerbate structural injustices, especially as it will impact the dynamics of justice and what is typically required of justice as a legal concept. As more state and non-state actors engage with this concept, this chapter reflects on the legitimate concerns raised over transparency, Indigenous consent and intergenerational justice where the implementation of geoengineering is concerned, and it examines the free, prior and informed consent procedure (FPIC) as a potential step towards addressing these issues.
The introduction, apart from presenting the succeeding chapters and connecting them, focuses on the overarching issue of justice – which is deeply interconnected to injustice – in the Arctic, the global, European and circumpolar contexts. In particular, it discusses the complexity of a notion such as justice, where one of the most central understandings includes framing issues of sustainable development as closely connected to issues of justice and justness, but also considers the particular challenges that arise by doing so. By stressing and recognizing the breadth and width of the notion of justice, and the various ways in which justice is commonly understood and the various ways in which the Arctic is defined – varying from more shallow, yet important, signposting or intuitive symbolism to deeper, highly nuanced accounts of oppression and domination – the chapter situates the notion of justice to the themes in the following chapters. The chapter also shows the potential of using justice and injustice as central notions for different analytical perspectives on developments in the Arctic. Hence, the introduction provides an overview of the chapters, contributes a critical discussion of the notions of justice and injustice, and positions this in the unique conditions of the Arctic region.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a well established framework for promoting the inclusion of environmental and social considerations in private company accounting. This is one of the key mechanisms for holding multi-national businesses to account for their actions in the Arctic. It is, however, insufficient. This chapter argues that the systematic inclusion of justice considerations in accounting practices may be the first step to achieving reflection on fairness and equity in both processes and outcomes in a company’s actions in the Arctic. After exploring the inadequacies of CSR generally and in the Arctic, it develops from justice theory a set of principles to be adopted by companies in the Arctic. The chapter ends with insights on the limitations of a ‘responsibility only’ approach, and the potential of justice to inspire future research in the area of CSR.
The importance of justice is increasingly recognized in mainstream environmental politics and policymaking. But exactly what does this adoption entail? Taking a cue from environmental justice scholarship, this chapter claims that it represents a version of justice that, in strategic ways, abstracts from the current production of a distinctively capitalist biophysical and ideological landscape. For all its ideological vigour, the problem with this abstraction from the landscape of capitalism is that it fails to present a challenge to structural environmental injustices. By contrast, this chapter empirically turns to environmental injustices with regard to mining, forestry, energy and nature conservation in northern Sweden. These examples show the ongoing commodification of nature and sustained environmental inequality rather than the concrete promotion of environmental justice. Without serious attention to these landscapes, policy adoption of justice thinking in terms of distribution, participation and recognition remains an empty rhetorical gesture.
This chapter explores some of the key issues and challenges of justice in the Arctic with a focus on the case of South Greenland. In an era of increased globalization and climate change, high global demand for energy and minerals, and an increasing local demand for improved living conditions and more sustainable livelihoods, populations of the Arctic must negotiate within local societies and communities, regionally and with external interests on how to make best use of human and natural resources in the region, including in terms of economic efficiency and equity. This chapter investigates the balance of power and the role played by the allocation and distribution of different types of capital at the local and regional level. A preliminary discussion of the potential outcome for different stakeholders at various levels, and the overall distributive implications for key economic sectors and activities is discussed.
