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Energy Solutions, Neo-Liberalism, and Social Diversity in Toronto, Canada

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  • Cheryl Teelucksingh

    (Sociology Department, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada)

  • Blake Poland

    (Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada)

Abstract

In response to the dominance of green capitalist discourses in Canada’s environmental movement, in this paper, we argue that strategies to improve energy policy must also provide mechanisms to address social conflicts and social disparities. Environmental justice is proposed as an alternative to mainstream environmentalism, one that seeks to address systemic social and spatial exclusion encountered by many racialized immigrants in Toronto as a result of neo-liberal and green capitalist municipal policy and that seeks to position marginalized communities as valued contributors to energy solutions. We examine Toronto-based municipal state initiatives aimed at reducing energy use while concurrently stimulating growth (specifically, green economy/green jobs and ‘smart growth’). By treating these as instruments of green capitalism, we illustrate the utility of environmental justice applied to energy-related problems and as a means to analyze stakeholders’ positions in the context of neo-liberalism and green capitalism, and as opening possibilities for resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheryl Teelucksingh & Blake Poland, 2011. "Energy Solutions, Neo-Liberalism, and Social Diversity in Toronto, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:1:p:185-202:d:11031
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Pollin & Heidi Garrett-Peltier, 2009. "Building a Green Economy: Employment Effects of Green Energy Investments for Ontario," Published Studies green_economy_of_ontario, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    2. Coburn, David, 2000. "Income inequality, social cohesion and the health status of populations: the role of neo-liberalism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 135-146, July.
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