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Socio-Ecological Justice in the Context of Anti-Hydropower Movements in Turkey

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Socio-Ecological Justice in the Context of Anti-Hydropower Movements in Turkey Vol. 151, No. 2-3 · Research article Justice as relationality: socio-ecological justice in the context DIE ERDE of anti-hydropower movements in Journal of the Geographical Society Turkey of Berlin Özge Yaka Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism, and Religious Diversity, Universität Potsdam, Campus Griebnitzsee, August-Bebel-Str. 89, House 7, Room 3.28, 14482 Potsdam, Germany, [email protected], [email protected] Manuscript submitted: 30 November 2019 / Accepted for publication: 25 June 2020 / Published online: 31 August 2020 Abstract By introducing a notion of socio-ecological justice, this article aims to deepen the relationship between environment and justice, which has already been firmly established by environmental justice movements and scholarship. Based on extensive fieldwork on local community struggles against small-scale run-of-river hydropower plants in Turkey, it expands the justice frame of environmental justice scholarship by going beyond the established conceptions of environ- mental justice as distribution – of environmental hazards and benefits, recognition and representation. Drawing on ethnographical fieldwork conducted in the East Black Sea region of Turkey, the article introduces the notion of socio- ecological justice to translate the relationality of the social and the ecological, of human life and non-human world, to the vocabulary of justice. It aims to extend the strictly humanist borders of social justice by maintaining that our intrin- sic and intimate relations with the non-human world are an essential part of our well-being, and central to our needs to pursue a fair, decent life. It also seeks to contribute to the broader debate to facilitate a ‘progressive composition’ of a common, more-than-human world. Zusammenfassung Durch die Einführung des Begriffs der sozio-ökologischen Gerechtigkeit will dieser Artikel die Beziehung zwi- schen Umwelt und Gerechtigkeit vertiefen, die von der Bewegung sowie seitens der Wissenschaft für die ‚Umwelt- gerechtigkeit‘ bereits fest etabliert wurde. Auf der Grundlage umfangreicher Feldforschungen zu den Kämpfen lokaler Gemeinschaften gegen kleine Laufwasserkraftwerke in der Türkei erweitert er den Gerechtigkeitsrah- men der Umweltgerechtigkeitsforschung, indem er über die etablierten Vorstellungen von Umweltgerechtigkeit als Verteilung – von Umweltgefahren und -nutzen, Anerkennung und Repräsentation – hinausgeht. Ausgehend von ethnographischen Feldforschungen, die in der Ost-Schwarzmeer-Region der Türkei durchgeführt wurden, führt der Artikel den Begriff der sozio-ökologischen Gerechtigkeit ein, um die Relationalität des Sozialen und des Ökologischen, des menschlichen Lebens und der nicht-menschlichen Welt in das Vokabular der Gerechtigkeit zu übersetzen. Er zielt darauf ab, die streng humanistischen Grenzen der sozialen Gerechtigkeit zu erweitern, indem er behauptet, dass unsere intrinsischen und intimen Beziehungen mit der nichtmenschlichen Welt ein we- sentlicher Bestandteil unseres Wohlergehens und von zentraler Bedeutung für unsere Bedürfnisse nach einem fairen, menschenwürdigen Leben sind. Er versucht auch, einen Beitrag zur breiteren Debatte zu leisten, um eine ‚progressive Zusammensetzung‘ einer gemeinsamen, mehr als menschlichen Welt zu erleichtern. Keywords socio-ecological justice, environmental justice, water struggles, hydropower, Turkey Özge Yaka 2020: Justice as relationality: socio-ecological justice in the context of anti-hydropower movements in Turkey. – DIE ERDE 151 (2-3): 167-180 DOI:10.12854/erde-2020-481 DIE ERDE · Vol. 151 · 2-3/2020 167 Justice as relationality: socio-ecological justice in the context of anti-hydropower movements in Turkey 1. Introduction er plants in the Mediterranean, East-Southeast Ana- tolia and the East Black Sea regions of Turkey, the ar- Environmental justice, both as a movement and as a conceptual framework, has been transformative of the main motivations and narratives of the anti- of the perception of the environment in the last few hydropowerticle initially struggleidentifies and regional the justice differences claims inthat terms the decades. Initially associated with the anti-toxic waste anti-hydropower struggle produces. Building on this struggles of black communities in the US in the early discussion, the article makes its conceptual contribu- 80s, the environmental justice frame has expanded tion drawing on the empirical case of the East Black to include a broad range of grassroots environmental Sea region, where the struggle against hydropower struggles in many different parts of the world (Walk- plants is at its strongest. Drawing on ethnographical er 2009; Schlosberg 2013; Martinez-Alier data collected in the East Black Sea region, it develops The movements of local communities – rural, native, the notion of socio-ecological justice, as a conceptual indigenous, black, minority and peasant communities et al. 2016). attempt to translate the relationality between river all over the globe – against the immediate environ- waters, and the non-human environment in general, mental threats that put their health and livelihoods at and human life into the vocabulary of (environmen- risk has altered the framing of the environment dras- tal) justice. Socio-ecological justice should be under- tically. ‘Environment’ came to denote the immediate stood not as an alternative but as complementary to environment, “where we live, work and play” (Novo- the notions of justice as (re)distribution, recognition tny 2000), instead of ‘somewhere out there’ to be con- and representation (procedural justice). served. The environmental justice movement has fundamen- 2. Expanding the borders of justice: what do tally challenged the post-materialist framing of envi- environmental justice struggles tell us about ronmentalism as a luxury issue (Inglehart 1990; Mar- the notion of justice? tinez-Alier 1995). Instead, the environment has been re-framed as a vital cause for the working classes, the As the environmental justice frame has expanded poor and the radicalized and marginalized communi- from narrowly focusing on the spatial distribution of ties that have been directly subjected to environmen- waste and toxicity mainly in the US to include diverse tal hazards. In this sense, the main contribution of en- environmental issues in many different parts of the vironmental justice has been to reveal the central role world, the idea of justice implied in the environmental of race, class and gender in determining the quality of - the environment we live in. Another important thing tion (procedural justice) and recognition are encom- it accomplished, as a social movement and as a body of justice frame has also been diversified. Representa scholarship, was to connect the issues of environment Walker and justice. 2012;passed Agyeman first in the practices of claim-making, and then relationsin the definition the concept of environmental of justice implies, justice however, (see are This article aims to deepen the conceptual relation still understudied et al. within 2016). the The vast ideas, volume meanings of environ and- between environment and justice, which has already mental justice scholarship. The main tendency within - this scholarship is still to apply the Rawlsian idea of tice movement and scholarship. It builds its concep- distributive justice1 to environmental issues, and un- tualbeen contribution firmly established on the following in the environmental research question: jus derstanding environmental justice as the un/fair dis- adopting an action-theoretical perspective of justice, how can we translate the justice claims of the strug- gles around environmental commons, anti-hydro- Thistribution tendency of environmental to frame environmental hazards and benefits. justice as a power struggles in this case, into conceptual vocabu- matter of (un)fair distribution could be seen as an at- lary of (environmental) justice? In doing so, the article tempt to translate the justice claims of the early en- expands the justice framework that environmental vironmental justice movements into the conceptual justice scholarship employs to study various environ- vocabulary of theories of justice. When the struggle mental justice struggles around the world. revolves around the disproportionate exposure of disadvantaged communities to toxic waste and other pollutants, it makes perfect sense to refer to distribu- struggles against small-scale, run-of-river hydropow- tive justice. In this sense, environmental justice schol- Based on extensive fieldwork on local community 168 DIE ERDE · Vol. 151 · 2-3/2020 Justice as relationality: socio-ecological justice in the context of anti-hydropower movements in Turkey arship employs an action-theoretical perspective and scale, with a gross capacity of up to 20 MW.3 These takes the concrete, day-to-day experiences of injus- small-scale, run-of-river hydropower plants are con- tice as a starting point to conceptualize what environ- centrated in the East Black Sea, Western Mediterra- mental justice is (Schlosberg 2013). Thinking justice nean and Eastern Anatolian regions where rivers through the justice claims of social movements pro- have naturally sloped streambeds. vides an alternative to the dominant line of thought They are often presented as eco-friendly renewable justice within an abstract moral frame. Justice here energy projects (IPCC iswithin a “permanent theories of invention” justice as (aBalibar field, which2012: discusses38), per- areas like hydrodams. Instead, they divert the river
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