Measuring environmental (in)justices: Insights from a systematic literature review on methodological approaches
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Authors
Environmental (in)justice research uses various conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches, leading to fragmentation across contexts and disciplines. Our systematic review provides a methodological overview of how environmental (in)justice has been studied in 421 English-language scientific articles. Most studies approach environmental (in)justice from a quantitative and interdisciplinary perspective, primarily using purposive sampling, secondary data, and GIS/remote sensing tools with an emphasis on distributive justice. Although there is a notable diversification over time in data collection and analysis, there is a strong geographic bias with short-term, locally focused, and limited actor involvement, though actor diversity is growing over time. We identified eight thematic clusters with distinct methodological patterns: health, pollution, governance, climate change, collaboration, access, and green space. The lack of broadly adopted methodological approaches for evaluating environmental (in)justices largely stems from the context-specific, multi-scalar nature of cases and the philosophical and normative diversity embedded in the EJ concept itself.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 113889 |
| Journal | iScience |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| ISSN | 2589-0042 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 19.12.2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s)
- SDG 13 - Climate Action
Sustainable Development Goals
- General
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Earth sciences, Environmental science, Social sciences
- Biology
- Environmental Governance
