Plastic pollution has become a pressing environmental problem. An increasing mass of plastic products ends up in oceans and landfills. One international grassroots organization—the Plastic Soup Foundation (PSF)—tries to influence politics and policies of governments and businesses that can be held responsible for this pollution. In Michiel Roscam Abbing’s recent book Plastic Soup Atlas of the World, the current problematique of plastic pollution is presented from a broad perspective and in a highly accessible way. This article’s main objective is to investigate, first, what can be learned from the PSF’s history and context and, second, whether this knowledge can deliver points of departure for enhancing the social quality approach to become functional for addressing environmental questions from the perspective of societal changes.
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Addressing Marine Plastic Pollution
The Plastic Soup Foundation and the Four-Dimensional Application of the Social Quality Approach
Laurent J. G. van der Maesen
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2018
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 47–77 (31 total)
Social Quality Research in a Globalized World
An Introduction
Ka Lin, Des Gasper, and Laurent J.G. van der Maesen
In the current globalized world, societal trends, problems, and challenges come not only from national states but also from beyond. These trends, problems, and challenges include international migration, human traffi cking, pandemics such as HIV, environmental pollution, and terrorism, presenting risks for the progress of human society and for world peace. Therefore, they are, or should be, subject to forms of global governance. This issue of the International Journal of Social Quality includes several papers to discuss these issues as important topics in social quality studies.
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2011
- Article Type:
- Introduction
- Pages:
- 1–4 (4 total)
John Walsh
One of the principal means by which state management of rapid economic development has been attempted in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has been the creation and maintenance of special economic zones (SEZs). The purpose of SEZs is to encourage domestic and international investment in specific areas to promote mainly export-oriented manufacturing. They have been created in large numbers in Thailand, Vietnam and the Yunnan Province of China, and they are being built across Cambodia, Laos and now Myanmar. Negative effects, such as pollution and the forcible clearances of people, are balanced by the provision of new jobs and better income-generating opportunities for people and their families. SEZs in the GMS are being increasingly drawn together by the large-scale creation of the Asian Highway Network, in addition to investment by domestic governments and by capital from Chinese corporations and the state. The creation of these linkages will have additional changes on the economic geography of the region and on the distribution of the factors leading to uneven development. This article seeks to identify the social and human implications of the spread of SEZs across the GMS. It seeks to draw together conclusions that lead to recommendations for public policy that will reduce the risks that people will face as a result.
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Jun 2013
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 44–56 (13 total)
Laurent J.G. van der Maesen
transform the EU's economy for a sustainable future, which includes, for example, a zero-pollution for a toxic free environment; farm-to-table, namely, a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system; a supply of clear, affordable, and secure
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2019
- Article Type:
- Editorial
- Pages:
- v–xx
Corporate Sustainability
An Academic Review
Varghese Joy
populations and protect the environment from unregulated production activities resulting in pollution and resource degradation ( Christofi et al. 2012 ). According to mainstream suppositions about sustainable development, a normative concept comes into focus
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Jun 2020
- Article Type:
- Review Article
- Pages:
- 87–104 (18 total)
Editorial
Brexit, Sustainability, Economics, Companies’ Responsibilities, and Current Representations
, unlimited business-organized burning of forests, and decreased biodiversity. The fourth challenge is how to understand the societal responsibility of the business world. Also, how do their market-driven interests cause increased pollution by promoting
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Jun 2016
- Article Type:
- Editorial
- Pages:
- 1–10 (10 total)
Marco Ricceri
without presenting their own definition based on theoretical groundwork either. The tragic effects of the serious pollution of oceans, seas, coasts, and landfills with plastic waste demonstrate one of the consequences of this omission in, for example
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Jun 2019
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 1–31 (31 total)
Governing the Sun
The Challenges of Geoengineering
Klaus Radunsky and Tim Cadman
overshoot scenarios and in order to reduce the pollution of the atmosphere to a level commensurate with the goals agreed under the Paris Agreement, large-scale CDR might become another market for such companies after the phase out of fossil fuels. There is
In The International Journal of Social Quality
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2019
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 19–34 (16 total)
Christian Ewert and Marion Repetti
may refer to the idea of democracy more subtly. As you are reading about climate change, for example, you may feel inclined to participate in a public protest against pollution, and you may think about the fact that to organize and participate in
In Democratic Theory
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2019
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 58–69 (12 total)
Dannica Fleuß and Gary S. Schaal
. Marjanovic , Olivera , Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic , and Richard Vidgen. 2018 . “ Algorithmic Pollution: Understanding and Responding to Negative Consequences of Algorithmic Decision-Making .” In Living with Monsters? Social Implications of
In Democratic Theory
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2019
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 12–26 (15 total)