Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Psychology
Advisor
Cindi Katz
Committee Members
Michelle Fine
Melissa Checker
Theresa Burriss
Lindsay Shade
Subject Categories
Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Psychology
Keywords
just transition, transformative transition, displacement in place, West Virginia, life stories
Abstract
This research explores perspectives on just transition, what transitional policies and practices are already set in motion, the conditions necessary to achieve it, and how this knowledge can inform environmental policy. Focusing on West Virginia, it employs qualitative methodology with open-ended interviews and develops life sketches of transitions to demonstrate how deeply intertwined just transition is with the lives of the people in places marked by extractive industries. Combining guiding principles from environmental and landscape justice, energy justice, feminist energy systems framework, and place attachment theory, the findings reveal that just transitions need to be transformative, focusing on understanding how and why particular communities work; healing from multiple forms of erasure, trauma, displacement, and environmental degradation; and changing the narrative, the hegemonic ways of doing business as usual, and patterns of ownership. This study calls for environmental decision-making that strives for pluralistic, place-based, community-owned politics and economies of care, incorporating experiential knowledge-sharing through storytelling, mapping, and educational interventions.
Recommended Citation
Marinova, Mariya, "Just Transitions: Critical Exploration of Environmental Policy and Decision-Making Through the Lens of Lived Stories" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6007