Transformative Participation in Agro-Biodiversity Governance: Making the Case for an Environmental Justice Approach

Abstract

Environmental justice has long been understood as dealing with the ex-post allocation of benefits and burdens. Such a conception raises two well-documented issues. First, theories of distributive justice are not suited for the study of the underlying conditions shaping decision-making on allocation. Second, given that different conceptions of morality and justice coexist in society, the conditions of a fair agreement tend to be better approached by defining the conditions of a fair decision-making process. Building on recent developments in environmental justice theory, this paper uses a tridimensional framework encompassing notions of distribution, recognition and representation to analyze ex-ante aspects of environmental justice. By using empirical examples of participatory governance mechanisms, it outlines a research framework attempting to bridge normative and instrumental approaches to environmental justice in natural resource management