“Holding course” towards environmental injustice. An explorative analysis of the environmental injustices in the decision-making process of the 9th dredging of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany
Abstract: Responding to the pressure of economies of scale, port cities like Hamburg “hold course” towards a development strategy, meeting demands of upscaling navigational infrastructure through dredging. Research focusing beyond distributional injustices is scarce and remains technocratically driven. To further our understanding of these processes, I conducted semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis of affected actors using environmental justice elements of recognition, participation and distribution and combined with the lens of science & technology studies through the addition of epistemic injustice to the framework. My analysis illuminates the underlying perceived issues of transparencies and high complexity in which actors interviewed lack resources, to fully comprehend and participate in the decision-making process, and, in which group identities get misrecognized. Perceived epistemic issues reveal a systematic ignorance of other knowledges and the suppression of counter-expert stories to be told or produced. To deepen our understanding of this topic, future comparative studies are needed.
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