Description
Book SynopsisWe find Roma settlements on the outskirts of villages, separated from the majority population by roads, railways or other barriers, disconnected from water pipelines and sewage treatment. Why are some people (or groups) better off than others when it comes to the distribution of environmental benefits? In order to understand the present situation and identify ways to address the impacts of these inequalities we must understand the past and mechanisms related to the differentiated treatment. The situation and discrimination of the Roma ethnic minority in Slovakia is examined from the perspective of environmental conditions and injustice. There is no simple answer as to why there is environmental injustice. Environmental conditions in Roma settlements are just one of the indicators of failures of policies addressing the problem of poverty and social exclusion in marginalized groups, structural discrimination, and internal Roma problems. Environmental injustice is not an outcome of the "historical determination" of the Roma population to live in environmentally problematic places.
Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations and Acronyms
List of Tables
List of Figures
Introduction
Chapter One. Environmental Poverty and the Roma
Points of Departure
Setting of the Story
Part I
Chapter Two. Environmental Justice and Entitlements
Distribution and Procedures
What Can We Learn from the Justice Struggles?
Central and Eastern Europe
Entitlements: Resources and Control
Chapter Three. The Roma of Slovakia
The Past and the Present
New Regime and Old Tricks
Villages and Shantytowns
Situation and Trends
Chapter Four. Rudňany: A Tale of the Old Liabilities
The Village and the People
The Roma in Rudňany
A Story of Contaminated Land
Roma Coping Strategies
Entitlements and Resources
People and the Power
Roma and the Environment
Environmental Injustice
Part II
Chapter Five. The Svinka River: People, Water and the Environment
People, Housing and Segregation
Hermanovce
Jarovnice
Svinia
A Tale of Water
Floods
Environment and Coping Strategies
Land, Entitlements and Environmental Justice
Chapter Six. A Regional Snapshot Overview
Exposure to Toxic and Waste
Access to Water and Sanitation
Exposure to Flood
The Land: Access and Entitlements
Risks and the People
Chapter Seven. Patterns of Environmental (In)justice
Pattern 1: Exposure to Hazardous Waste and Chemicals
Pattern 2: Vulnerability to Floods
Pattern 3: Differentiated Access to Potable Water
Pattern 4: Discriminatory Waste Management Practice
The Patterns and the Impacts
Chapter Eight. Roma? Not in My Backyard
Economic Interests
Spatial Distance and “Not in My Backyard” Syndrome
Changes in Local Economy
“Beyond the Pale” Construction
Symbolic, Cultural, and Social Capital
Competition and Conflicts
Chapter Nine. Trends and Reverting the Trends
Doom Scenario: From Competition to Conflict
Optimistic Scenario: From Competition to Cooperation
Short-term Measures: The Key Challenge of Housing
Long-term Opportunities: What is Environmental is Also Economic and Social
Green Employment
From Entitlements and Involvement into Development
Planning, Struggling, and Stakeholders
Living beyond the Pale? Challenges and Conclusions
Annex 1. Shifts in Approaches
References
Index
