Social, ecological, and economic issues: From linkages to socio-political cleavages in France?

A doctoral research could explore the articulations of and interlinkages between climate justice and climate policy in the US context. It could investigate the nature, framing and operationalization of climate justice and its claims by US civil society and probe into the institutional responses to these claims, i.e. whether and the extent to which climate justice permeates US climate policy-making. In other words, and broadly, it could analyze the expression of climate justice claims, their political repercussions and policy echoes in the US context. A non-exhaustive, or yet refined, set of research questions of interest could include the following: - What would a climate justice in policy practice look like? - How does climate justice unfold domestically in the US? - What are the different actors instrumentalizing climate justice to further their agendas? - How is climate justice framed and operationalized as a demand by US civil society and activists? - What does the US climate justice movement demand? - How do decision-makers react to these demands? - To what extent do these demands influence domestic and international policy and politics? - How does climate justice move from the world of activism to that of policy-making? - How does the climate justice-mitigation interplay operationalize in the “non-ideal world” of the US? - To what extent are climate justice principles and mechanisms integrated into the US climate policy framework? - Are the policies and processes that underlie the US climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy consistent with the demands of climate justice? In so doing, the research would explore and contribute to the climate change policy debate and the emerging field which interconnects justice with climate and supports the development of socially just responses to the climate crisis. It could foster a better appreciation of what a climate justice in practice could look like, and where current US policies succeed or fall short of it, notably by operationalizing a framework of climate justice to the purposes of policy evaluation. Comprising a policy evaluation, it would therefore carry the typical functions therein, whereby raised awareness in policy-making and strengthened public accountability are entrusted by the premise that better knowledge makes for better decisions (Fujiwara, et al., 2019). Offering a normative justice perspective to policy analysis, it would challenge the dominance of the technical in transition debates and, in so doing, provide insights into how the opportunities of a synchronized climate change mitigation and reduction of inequalities could be materialized. In sum, it carries hope to inspire amendments to existing policy frameworks and to influence the design of future policies or those already in the pipeline, in the US or abroad, and in line with a consideration of “fairness” as a policy goal in and of itself.