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The end of the line : Envisioning degrowth and ecosocial justice in the resistance to the trolleybus dismantlement in Moscow

Chertkovskaya, Ekaterina LU and Paulsson, Alexander LU (2022) In Local Environment 27(4). p.440-458
Abstract
The city of Moscow has been going through a transformation of its surface transport network during the past decade as part of a broader policy of urban beautification. Despite a renewed interest in public transport, this policy has led to the dismantling of the trolleybus system. This was met with resistance from various groups. Bringing together scholarly discussions on urban growth coalitions and on degrowth, we repoliticise urban mobility policies and put the entangled issues of ecological sustainability and social justice at the centre of the analysis. To do this, we outline a degrowth vision of urban mobility and introduce the concept of ecosocial justice, through which the case is analysed. Our results show that the trolleybus... (More)
The city of Moscow has been going through a transformation of its surface transport network during the past decade as part of a broader policy of urban beautification. Despite a renewed interest in public transport, this policy has led to the dismantling of the trolleybus system. This was met with resistance from various groups. Bringing together scholarly discussions on urban growth coalitions and on degrowth, we repoliticise urban mobility policies and put the entangled issues of ecological sustainability and social justice at the centre of the analysis. To do this, we outline a degrowth vision of urban mobility and introduce the concept of ecosocial justice, through which the case is analysed. Our results show that the trolleybus dismantlement increases biophysical throughput, compromises Moscow’s ecology of culture, and is rooted in injustices, not least because Moscow authorities have ignored the many objections and alternative proposals put forward by residents. However, opposition groups paid limited attention to procedural injustices and to the configuration of Moscow’s political economy. This was a limitation of the campaign, but suggests possibilities for repoliticising urban mobility policies at other sites of resistance. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Public transport, Urban mobility, Degrowth, urban growth coalitions, ecosocial justice, Moscow
in
Local Environment
volume
27
issue
4
pages
440 - 458
publisher
Carfax Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85101487634
ISSN
1354-9839
DOI
10.1080/13549839.2021.1884667
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6fed7cfa-1b6b-4d6e-80d1-a9cc09307f22
date added to LUP
2021-02-28 18:16:31
date last changed
2022-06-30 07:28:42
@article{6fed7cfa-1b6b-4d6e-80d1-a9cc09307f22,
  abstract     = {{The city of Moscow has been going through a transformation of its surface transport network during the past decade as part of a broader policy of urban beautification. Despite a renewed interest in public transport, this policy has led to the dismantling of the trolleybus system. This was met with resistance from various groups. Bringing together scholarly discussions on urban growth coalitions and on degrowth, we repoliticise urban mobility policies and put the entangled issues of ecological sustainability and social justice at the centre of the analysis. To do this, we outline a degrowth vision of urban mobility and introduce the concept of ecosocial justice, through which the case is analysed. Our results show that the trolleybus dismantlement increases biophysical throughput, compromises Moscow’s ecology of culture, and is rooted in injustices, not least because Moscow authorities have ignored the many objections and alternative proposals put forward by residents. However, opposition groups paid limited attention to procedural injustices and to the configuration of Moscow’s political economy. This was a limitation of the campaign, but suggests possibilities for repoliticising urban mobility policies at other sites of resistance.}},
  author       = {{Chertkovskaya, Ekaterina and Paulsson, Alexander}},
  issn         = {{1354-9839}},
  keywords     = {{Public transport; Urban mobility; Degrowth; urban growth coalitions; ecosocial justice; Moscow}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{440--458}},
  publisher    = {{Carfax Publishing}},
  series       = {{Local Environment}},
  title        = {{The end of the line : Envisioning degrowth and ecosocial justice in the resistance to the trolleybus dismantlement in Moscow}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2021.1884667}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13549839.2021.1884667}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}