GLOSSARY

Movements

A movement is a loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal. A movement will harness a variety of disciplines and practices to achieve its aim.

Environmental justice is defined as the “just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people:

  • are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative effects of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and

  • have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices.” [1]

The environmental justice movement recognizes that some of the world’s most vulnerable people have unfairly endured the worst of pollution and other climate disasters, and seeks to redress the harms.

“The environmental justice movement was started by individuals, primarily people of color, who sought to address the inequity of environmental protection in their communities. Professor Bullard wrote, ‘whether by conscious design or institutional neglect, communities of color in urban ghettos, in rural ‘poverty pockets’, or on economically impoverished Native-American reservations face some of the worst environmental devastation in the nation.’ The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s sounded the alarm about the public health dangers for their families, their communities and themselves.” [1]

Environmental Justice

What Environmental Justice invites us to do

  • Advocate for policies and funds to address environmental and pollution issues in our communities that affect the health of real people

  • Consider the downstream effects of business decisions and technologies that may be innovative and profitable in the short term (e.g., Artificial Intelligence), but worsen the lives of others in vulnerable locations

  • Explore Indigenous and other cultural perspectives for environmental practices, building community engagement, and thinking about ourselves in connection with others and the earth

  • Partner with other organizations and agencies in shared initiatives resulting in collective impact

The Liberatory Design movement’s goal is to advance equity efforts using collaborative design rooted in equitable processes.

The National Equity Project (NEP) defines it as an “approach to addressing equity challenges and change efforts in complex systems. It is grounded in an integrated part of NEP’s Leading for Equity Framework, which meshes human-centered design with complex systems theory, and deep equity practice. It is a process and practice to:

  • Create designs that help interrupt inequity and increase opportunity for those most impacted by oppression

  • Transform power by shifting the relationships between those who hold power to design and those impacted by those designs

  • Generate critical learning and increased agency for those involved in the design work.

Liberatory Design

At the core of Liberatory Design are a set of beliefs:

  • Racism and inequity have been designed into systems and thus can be redesigned;

  • Designing for equity requires the meaningful participation of those impacted by inequity; and

  • Equity-driven designs require equity and complexity informed processes.

Many equity efforts stall or fail to achieve intended outcomes for several reasons:

  • Not employing a deep enough equity lens, such as failing to interrogate systemic oppression

  • Following traditional linear, hierarchical plans that focus on strategies, goals, timelines, metrics, and accountability instead of recognizing the complexity of the challenge and fostering emergence

  • Remaining in the context of dominant white culture, in traditional structures (e.g., committees, tasks forces), or ineffective team approaches.” [4]

What Liberatory Design invites us to do

  • Consider new products, services, and business models in terms of creating liberation from historically oppressive systems

  • Invite engagement and deep connection with the people who have been oppressed in the design and implementation of new opportunities

  • Think in positive-sum, rather than zero-sum, terms

References & Learn More

[4] National Equity Project
 https://www.nationalequityproject.org/frameworks/liberatory-design

The Restorative Justice movement seeks to turn the tables from retribution to repairing harm. The core approach is to harness dialogue and consensus to repair harm done to victims and offenders. “For victims, the goal is to give them an active role in the process, and to reduce feelings of anxiety and powerlessness. Restorative justice programs can also complement traditional methods, such as retributive justice.” [5]

Restorative Justice

According to the National Center on Restorative Justice, it is “a set of practices and philosophy focused on identifying needs and repairing harm, active accountability, centering relationships and community, and voluntary participation. Restorative justice seeks to understand the harm caused and to identify the resulting needs for impacted individuals and communities. It also seeks to understand the needs that led to the behavior that caused harm, so that those needs can be address. This includes a focus on equity and addressing needs that arise from broader structural and historical sources of harm.” [6]

When to use Restorative Justice

  • Creating opportunities for those impacted by the justice system to improve their lives and contribute positively to their communities (e.g., becoming entrepreneurs)

  • Identifying causes that lead to crime within a community by addressing underlying needs

  • Advocating for alternative responses to harm instead of or after incarceration

What Restorative Justice invites us to do

  • Question prevailing assumptions about and business models of the criminal justice and incarceral systems

  • Redefine community goals for connection, rehabilitation, and safety for all

  • Identify and work to change systems of oppression to prevent further harm

  • Recognize the resilience of the human spirit and peoples’ ability to solve their own problems when connected to the people, resources, and processes they need to do so

  • Focus on healing and making amends rather than retribution

References & Learn More

[5] Restorative Justice, Wikipedia
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice

[6] National Center on Restorative Justice
 https://ncorj.org/what-is-restorative-justice/

[7] 10 Ways to Live Restoratively
https://zehr-institute.org/resources/10-ways-to-live-restoratively/