The main aim of the project is to expand the theory of environmental justice by analyzing the every-day life lived experience of local communities exposed to various environmental changes, hazards and conflicts http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4294 2026-05-30T09:58:29Z 2026-05-30T09:58:29Z Rusu, Oana Alexandrescu, Filip Bunescu, Ioana Codreanu, Ionut Gheorghe, Carmen Velicu, Irina http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4530 2026-05-21T10:45:48Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Insidious Whiteness in Eastern Europe: Environmental Injustice and Dehumanisation in a Roma Community Authors: Rusu, Oana; Alexandrescu, Filip; Bunescu, Ioana; Codreanu, Ionut; Gheorghe, Carmen; Velicu, Irina Abstract: Even in Eastern Europe, whiteness organises space, race, class and environmental justice research. Inspired by whiteness theory,we draw on a case of environmental injustice affecting the Roma community of Dăroaia—a segregated neighbourhood in RoșiaMontană—in the context of the mining conflict over the eponymous gold mine. We analyse how whiteness as ‘gadjoness’ dehu-manises Roma communities through institutionalised mundane practices of spatial and discursive exclusion. Whiteness operatesas an insidious power relation, which we set about to expose. Following a historical approach to racial exploitation in EasternEurope and analysing 31 interviews with local actors, we apply a reflexive methodology to question the constitution of race andwhiteness in Romania. Our results show how socio-environmental injustice is reproduced through racism and whiteness, isinscribed in space and normalised through racist institutional practices, but is also exposed and challenged by Roma agency.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Iordachescu, George Girigan, Gabriel Vatavu, Bogdan http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4526 2026-05-18T10:22:13Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Environmental injustice in the political forests of Romania Authors: Iordachescu, George; Girigan, Gabriel; Vatavu, Bogdan Abstract: In this article, we analyze the postsocialist transformations of Romania's political forests through the lens of the environmental justice approach. We do so by examining how environmental injustices are intertwined with the postsocialist processes of land reform, the emergence of conservation narratives, and the reconfiguration of political power throughout this period. We draw on data collected through semi-structured and expert interviews, local ethnographies and various case studies conducted across three research projects from 2016 to 2024. We contend that the precariousness of forest work, the deepening of firewood dependency, and the gendered and racialized experiences of injustice faced by many forest-dependent groups highlight a need to move beyond the recognition versus redistribution dilemma in environmental justice literature. Our analysis reveals that injustices are exacerbated by structural dynamics, suggesting that complex complicities at play in the political forests blur the lines between victims, perpetrators, and harms.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Vatavu, Bogdan Serbanuta, Claudia Bunescu, Ioana Delibas, Hestia Velicu, Irina Iordachescu, George http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4523 2026-05-14T06:40:52Z 2026-05-12T00:00:00Z

Title: Between academic dependency and epistemic marginalization: a systematic literature review of environmental justice in post-socialist Eastern Europe Authors: Vatavu, Bogdan; Serbanuta, Claudia; Bunescu, Ioana; Delibas, Hestia; Velicu, Irina; Iordachescu, George Abstract: This paper explores the academic conceptualization of environmental justice (EJ) in post-socialist Eastern Europe (EE) through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 106 peer-reviewed articles from the early 1990s to 2024. The study focuses on two main directions. First, we examined knowledge production and found that EJ scholarship in EE only gained significant attention after the EU accession of countries in the region. Additionally, research on EJ issues in EE appears to be academically dependent on Western funding and expertise. Second, we investigated how authors approach EJ in EE by analysing the theoretical perspectives they adopt, the types of conflicts that receive attention, and whether there is a focus on ethnic minorities in the area. We identified a significant gap between the scholarship reviewed and EJ conflicts as reported in the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJ Atlas). This disconnect is notably evident for Roma communities, whose environmental harms are documented in activist literature but mostly overlooked in academia. Additionally, there is a disparity between the urban focus of EJ literature and the underrepresentation of rural cases. The paper underscores the epistemic marginalization of vulnerable communities, such as rural and Roma groups, and their grassroots perspectives on EJ.

2026-05-12T00:00:00Z Delibas, Hestia Velicu, Irina Savin, Ioana Cosma, Simion Valer Brumă, Ioan Sebastian Sălcudean, Minodora http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4522 2026-05-12T09:50:50Z 2026-05-08T00:00:00Z

Title: Violence hidden in plain sight: pin-prick land grabbing in Romania Authors: Delibas, Hestia; Velicu, Irina; Savin, Ioana; Cosma, Simion Valer; Brumă, Ioan Sebastian; Sălcudean, Minodora Abstract: The post-socialist transition in Romania has materialised in myriad factors that slowly eroded the capacity for social reproduction of rural populations. Using the concept of pin-prick land grabbing, this article draws attention to how, against the backdrop of loss of rural social fabric, unequal power dynamics among different stakeholders have led to small-scale land disputes and normalisation of extractive violence, which eventually facilitated large-scale land grabbing. By bringing to the surface these ‘hidden in plain sight’ forms of violence, the authors show the structural complexity of the phenomenon, putting forward the need for an environmental justice approach to land grabbing

2026-05-08T00:00:00Z