Racialized politics of garbage : waste management in urban Roma settlements in Eastern Europe

Dunajeva, Jekatyerina and Kostka, Joanna (2021) Racialized politics of garbage : waste management in urban Roma settlements in Eastern Europe. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 45 (1). pp. 90-112. ISSN 0141-9870

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Abstract

Disproportionate exposure to adverse environmental conditions is part of the complex cycle of dispossession and racial discrimination faced by marginalized minorities in Europe—primarily the Roma. The concept of environmental justice or the analysis of environmental risk along racial dimensions are largely absent from policy debates. This is a critical omission considering that the consolidation of neoliberal governance powerfully recomposes access to public services and individualizes collective responsibilities for a safe environment. Driven by competitive logic, neoliberalism champions the zero-sum game where losers are either abandoned or punished by the governing apparatus. This article argues that neoliberal governance, underpinned by moral appeals and racist imaginaries, legitimizes repression of marginalized groups such as the Roma. The primary purpose of this paper is to fill a theoretical and conceptual gap in the literature linking environmental issues to racism.