Between academic dependency and epistemic marginalization: a systematic literature review of environmental justice in post-socialist Eastern Europe

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.