Sustainability and Social Justice

As we look back at the six blog posts we published, not one of us has looked back and said, “Really?  That’s it?”  This project required thorough research and analysis, not necessarily on the topic itself, but the implication of media involvement.

Annah never imagined that this project would grow and become such an experiment in media. “Quite frankly, it was complicated at times. I focused on industry’s approach to this issue and wanted to see how they adapted to the changes in sustainability and social justice-especially the coal industry. I found that industries are stepping up to the plate to do what’s necessary to preserve the environment, and they’re using the media to do it. I also took a broader look at energy sources and how they were contributing to social justice. What I found most interesting was how connected media sources consistently were, as they were easily tied from one post and issue to the next-all carrying great significance and together making a wide covering of the topic of sustainability and social justice.”

Meagan focused on the positive relationship between social justice and sustainability. Her primary focus was on how the media was targeting the younger generations in this issue. She looked at a variety of sources from Popped Music Festival, to Starbuck’s Shared Planet, to EBay’s World of Good, to Akon and Buffett’s joint venture and the Zip Car. Overall, the media’s endorsement of these issues for the younger generations is portrayed as a fad. Green is the cool thing to do. It’s what the socially-conscious companies are endorsing and the hip actors are promoting. While this approach may not necessarily be sustainable (get it?) in the long run, the mass media’s coverage right now is making the issue right on the forefront. Let’s just hope the cause outlasts temporary green-trend.

In terms of my governmental sources, the ones Adrienne found were almost always persuasive in nature. “Makes sense if you consider what politics is all about anyway. There was also an emphasis on convincing people that the government was actually doing something about sustainability sources from companies were also persuasive in nature. They were convincing people that either being eco-friendly was the cool thing to do, or that they were committed to sustainability- almost all of the rest of my sources had something to do with trying to explain and prove that sustainability and social justice were not far removed from each other and that it was necessary to consider the two issues together if you ever wanted to solve either problem.”

Tony discovered early on that the variability of sources was immense, but the types of reliable sources were somewhat limited.  “I found that there were many types of groups that presented seemingly reliable information, but it turned out that the majority of it was opinionated.  It made it a lot tougher to present a balanced view of each subtopic.  Just because groups were committed to the issue does not necessarily mean that they will publish all information in an unbiased and non-skewed fashion.”

Kyle noted the difficulty in sorting through conflicting information and viewpoints.  “I found it fascinating that companies, advocacy groups, non-governmental organizations, and even intergovernmental organizations presented very similar information in various ways.  They only wanted to show the information in a way that would benefit themselves and their cause, even if they instill a false perception of the facts in readers.  Reliable sources were often hard to find, especially weeding out the advocacy groups that represented viewpoints based on very sketchy information.  I determined that the more solid media involvement and dedication an advocacy group or an NGO had, the more legitimate they were likely to be.”

Everyone was able to complete all of the required posts, and no one covered the same information twice.  With the complexity of the topic, every member was able to cut down the excess information and structure the remaining and crucial information into thorough and balanced posts.  Complete analysis of media’s involvement in every aspect, from money to legislation, was required of all of us in order to present a logical breakdown of the information available.  But what we learned about informational analysis was invaluable.  Sifting through insignificant and essential taught us about the importance of prior knowledge of the topic- media’s role in sustainability and social justice.  With knowledge of the media’s power and importance, we were able to analyze the desire of all the parties involved to gain as much media attention as they could.

As our individual posts comes to end, i feel lucky to have come across a website that shows many of the technologies, such as blogs, podcasts, and videos, that we have seen in the mass media course.  The marketplace, which the website is know as, has a number of journalistic articles which can be read, listened to, or even watched.  The website is ran by American Public Radio, which is the world’s second largest producer and distributor of public radio.One article that i choose to listen to (mainly because it is alot easier than reading) was called “Ex Criminals Give Lives Solar Power”.

The article discusses a gang-prevention program that is helping give ex-gang member a new direction in life by teaching them how to install solar panels.  This article connects to social justice because this program illustrates a program gets the victims of environmental and social injustice involved in helping sustainable issues.  The idea of these victims once being exposed to living in unequal condtions is examined in another source that i discovered.  This article claims that there are three main arguments of why their is injustice concerning the topic of sustainability and social justice.  This arguments are:

1. The poor or poor so their communities are reasonable places to put environmental hazards instead of wealthier communities
2. Environmental hazards are put in places where there are already industrial land
3. Environment hazards are put in low-income communites is a reflection of the decision-making by political leaders.

As my posts have come to an end, i have realized that i have actually learned alot about sustainability and social justice in regards to the media.  I feel like companies take advantage of the media in order to paint a positive image about themselves and their businesses.  Some are more successful in this than others.  Personally, now i feel like i can point out the frauds from the sincere ones.  Well….at least i think i can….

As the close to the Com 221 quickly approaches, I’m starting to grasp how interconnected social justice and sustainability truly are, especially as they’re channeled out by the mass media in unique and varying approaches (as shown by the variety of blog posts from our group). Admittedly at the onset I didn’t have a clue what I was doing trying to connect the two, but as I progressed I realized how exchangeable they were.  One journalistic source Earthly Goods aptly describes the relationship between the two:

“We argue that a concern for social justice is central to devising acceptable policies for a global response to environmental change and should be placed at the forefront of the international debate.”

One final example of this connection comes in my last post, as we look at a corporate webpage blog which serves as a journalistic and institutional source. What’s interesting too, is comparing it to an academic source written by Alison Alkon entitled, “Paradise or pavement; the social constructions of the environment in two urban farmers’ markets and their implications for environmental justice and sustainability.” Although you might think these two issues aren’t connected at all—they are. I’ll take a final stab to show you how, and display how media is used throughout its process.

The post on the business site is a short encouragement for people to take a course that will further develop their skills and understandings of the two issues and their connection. The study by Alkon, on the other hand, is an extensive look at farmers’ markets and the way sustainability is seen through the eyes of different social stereotypes. This study is highly interesting and thought provoking, and it’s good to know that although widely different, it is connected to the before mentioned blog post. What connects these two modes of media is a common interlaced theme (although difficult to detect) of concern about social justice within efforts for sustainability. This is important as we must note that the writers are genuinely concerned and perplexed about preserving the important elements of social justice in regards to the efforts for sustainability. Many environmental activists might throw precaution in the wind and not realize the significance of preserving social justice—but these two sources do. One does this by means of a research project and the other by a blog comment from business professionals.  

These two resources are an incredible example of the balance mass media can provide on a complicated issue like the one I’ve been studying. It also covers important aspects of media including new definitions of community, information, and surveillance.

When I look over my last couple posts, I find myself surprised. I feel like I have learned so much about sustainability and social justice in the media yet at the same time have barely skimmed the surface. The issues have become something that excites me and I know it’s because of all the exposure I have had through the different media sources. The media has portrayed to the youth that these issues are something that they can become passionate about and do something about. It is the revolution that every young socially-conscious youth want to be part of.

One movement which really excites me is “The Greening of Pittsburgh”. This old industrial town is quickly “becoming a leader in the field of sustainable building” which is a movement largely led by young active locals. And the best part? It’s helping the city in a time of economic distress. Talk about combining sustainability and social justice!

Another tremendous example of a company pairing sustainability, social justice, and a hip younger generation is the Zipcar.

An awesome article article in the New York Times explains this phenomenon of a company which endorses people not owning cars but rather through their membership to Zip Car, having access to hundreds of shared cars throughout their city. Their product is only successful through due to their marketing. They wanted to get across the idea that “Sharing is clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern; owning is dull selfish, timid, backward” and so their target group became “an environmentally aware, cost-conscious, Internet-bred generation of urbanities who have come of age sharing information (Wikipedia), music (Napster), software (BitTorrent), videos (YouTube), and entertainment (Netflix) and the excrutiating minutiae of daily life  anyblog.com).” They employed several different strategies:

• The two-step flow: they targeted cool, hip urban insiders who lived in the city and got them to buy into the plan
• A new sense of community: They followed the mass media trend and made their “zipsters” feel like they were a part of something by having gatherings of the members and pushing the “old-fashioned sense of community”
• Hyperlocal marketing: “Curbside demonstrations of Zipcar’s technology, droll Zipcar ads in bus shelters and free membership for merchants who prominently displayed Zipcar pamphlets”

And it is a quickly growing, in fact, booming success in some of America’s biggest cities and biggest campuses. Seriously, genius.

In my last few posts i have discussed certain companies and their attempts to portray themselves as “going green” companies.  Yes, some of these companies actually do care about the environment and are not just using the “going green” campaign for promotional tactics.  As the search for these companies continued since my last post i found another company that claims that they are concerned about the environment in regards to their business.  3M, a technology company, is the name of the business that a stumbled on.

3M Logo

• Promoting sound environmental, health and safety management at their locations worldwide
• Making pollution prevention pay through the development of new technologies and products
• Developing products that help their customers address their environmental challenges

If you go to their website, you will see that they also offer a videodedicated to their commitment to sustainability throughout their business.  With both the video and the sustainability brochure on their website, we see that this company is using the idea of convergence in their attempt to spread the message that they are a “Green” company.  The video is really compassionate to the topic of sustainability.  Personally, i get the impression that they are sincere about what they say considering that they are also part of the problem.  But they could be fooling me as every business’s objective is to sway customers to their side.  Also, their brochure claims that they employ local people in an attempt to help with their environmental social and economic sustainability.  With this being said i leave you with one question… are there companies out there that are purely dedicated to sustainability and are not driving by their own harmful contributions to the environment?

Thus far we’ve had a few looks at industrial life and its connection to sustainability and social justice, as we’ve examined GE and several aspects of the coal industry. In the same efforts—the goal being promoting healthier lives for ourselves and our planet—we’ll take a look at what an educational system does with this issue as they strive to build a sustainable and efficient campus.

According to an informative source, Building Sustainable Communities edited by Anne K. Haugestead and J.D. Wulfhorst, “Sustainable development is often described as consisting of three pillars: 

• ecological sustainability
• social sustainability
• economic sustainability

To these pillars we also add three goals: sustainable security, peace, and quality of life.”

And with these pillars in mind, the State University of New York is building it’s a new campus “Stony Brook Southampton” as reported by The New York Times last July.  The center of the campus will be a shingle windmill built in 1713, a fortress once used to generate wind power and be a summer home for Tennessee Williams in the 1950’s.

Of course almost every campus has made efforts to adapt their lifestyle to a better “environmentally friendly” standard, but what makes Stony Brook different (and gives its connection to social justice too) is the fact that it’s not only make its grounds more sustainable but its curriculum too. This is the first time I’ve heard of a university adjusting its curriculum so that every course has a measure of connection to sustainability. The school seeks to do this in part because it wants to focus on man’s interactions with nature, and better understand the social justice aspect of sustainability. I think this is highly interesting because not only to they seek the answers; they are taking on a project where they’ll live the results and better appreciate social justice as it directly connects to sustainability. By looking at these two journalistic sources, I’ve seen concentration, interactivity, community building, and cultivation. I appreciate how the media can overlap when it covers such issues, and the connectivity of these two sources shows me how much the media relies on each other for the healthy promotion of issues.  

Trying to stop polluters is an ongoing mission of the government, advocacy groups, and other NGOs.  However, actual results of lowering of halting pollution have come far and in between.  Geographical, a UK publication, notes that Clinton, ‘Charged the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with bringing about environmental justice and preventing waste from being dumped in poor areas.’  Though little has actually been done for a variety of reasons, the fact that this came from the President of the United States thrust the EPA and the stated issues into the spotlight, which could be interpreted as an example of status conferral.

Another article I found from Chemical Week got me thinking about how certain issues rise to attention and others do not.  While this page from the magazine had a very important article on environmental justice, it was the article on the same page that stated a few ways some issues make it to the top:

• Lawsuits- when powerful people get involved, it is bound to get covered
• Get an IGO to support your claim- they will spread the word very effectively
• Get lots of money involved- even if it isn’t yours, high volumes of money flow tend to get noticed
• Scientific breakthroughs- even if it is not much of a breakthrough but more of a confirmation, just inflate the importance if it can help gain attention

Ok, I added my own spin on the last one, but cold hard scientific facts can be a great argument for getting attention.

One recurring theme throughout this whole situation is the spiral of silence model.  Whether a viewpoint succeeds or not is at the mercy of the power game.  But Vivian’s description of minority viewpoints “getting intimitated into silence and obscurity” is inaccurate, especially here.  The advocacy groups are far from intimidated- they fearlessly take on hugely powerful governments and their agencies with limited resources.  They also ensure that being condemned to silence never happens to them.  Groups here know the boundless possibilities and benefits of free speech, and they use this to their advantage.

I’ve found some interesting information about sustainability and social justice, but I realized that the efforts of organizations that I cited in previous posts really doesnt mean much if there is not government support behind efforts for sustaibability and social justice.

When I realized that, I went in search of some governmental information, and as they say “seek and you shall find.”  I found an article from Seattle – King county’s local government.  There are several highlights in this article:

• healthy food is a basic human need
• local governments need to be involved in food systems
• leveraging resources to serve as a catalyst for developing sustainable food systems
• creating linkages across food system

What I thought was interesting about this publication is that though the title seemed to emphasize sustainability, the text of the article outlined the reasons for creating a food policy council.  The information in article is typical of a politcal document, it is all about convincing a constituency to action.

If you dislike opinions based in deep thought or religious philosophy, stop reading.  But you didn’t stop reading, because now you are just curious what religion has to do with this topic.  I will feature two articles: one being a scholarly journal that deals more with the political side (again), and a journalistic article that explores the effects of religion and what role they play both socially and politically.

As we witness the rebuilding of local, national, and international economies, politicians are finding it difficult to garner support for a specific plan, since people are very skeptical of any spending that we already cannot afford.  So, one would think that sustainable rebuilding would cost more, therefore attracting less supporters.  Yet, as stated by Leuenberger and Wakin, the possibility of sustainable development can be achieved if used as a tool for

• increased social justice
• equity
• linking practice and theory, and
• citizen inclusion in public administration decision making

This entails a significant involvement of communication means in order to promote the positives of a plan such as this.  If the government can send a message that a sustainable revolution is feasible and necessary, not many will object, as there are few opponents to renewable energy and environmentally-friendly practices.

People may make the immediate connection of religion and politics, but for those who didn’t, don’t feel bad, I’ll explain it to you- one does not exist without the other.  Period.  I will focus on Christians simply because they are the majority religion in the United States.  Now, obviously these views do not represent all those of the Christian faith, the following are common views among these people, so don’t get all flustered when you read.  Barbour of the Ecumenical Review states, “few delegates rejected the idea of sustainability, but most considered issues of hunger, poverty, and distributive justice more urgent.”  Many put issues such as helping those in desperate need of help, and sometimes the best available and most plausible option is not the best long-term solution.  These messages actually are transmitted very effectively through electronic and non-electronic media.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Television
• Church bulletins, criers
• Books
• One-to-many verbal communication

Effective communication is essential in sharing messages of politics and faith.  Don’t worry, more on religion is yet to come, and how its communication compares and contrasts to generally non-religious political communication.

So… after several posts later i’m still learning more and more about the connection between Social justice and sustainability.  One source that i found was very helpful.  This paper highlights the importance environmental sustainability in relationship to government policies.

 After my last post, i figured it would be interesting to continue my research on big companies and how they use the “Going Green” campaign to promote their business.  After looking around i found an international company, Lend Lease, that is actually concerned about the environment.  Well, that is the impression i got.  Maybe they fooled me just as most of the businesses around here seem to do a lot.

Lend Lease Logo

• Designed Homes
• Mixture of residents
• schools and recreational parks

The community expects to improve the local economy as thousands of new jobs will be created.  And probably the most important thing, this community will be a green community as it is built to have public transportation over personal vehicles.

I feel like this is a great idea by those who are promoting sustainability through the olympics because the entire world views this event.  It sends a global message.  This shows signs of globalization and convergence as many different technologies come together to build a sustainable community that forces the residence into social justice.  And as others began to view this community, the message should spread having more large companies being active in “Going Green”.  The difference between Chevron and Lend Lease though is that Lend Lease’s actions and promotions are the helping the problem instead of contributing to the problem while promoting sustainability as Chevron does…