Just by design: exploring justice as a multidimensional concept in US circular economy discourse

Circular economies are often framed as addressing a trio of problems: environmental degradation, economic stagnation, and social ills, broadly defined. Our paper centers on this last claim – that circular economies promise social benefits. There is a dearth of literature focused on the social dimensions of circular economies (Geissdoerfer, Martin, Paulo Savaget, Nancy M. P. Bocken, and Erik Jan Hultink. 2017. “The Circular Economy – A New Sustainability Paradigm?” Journal of Cleaner Production 143 (February): 757–768. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.), and even less attention to the meaning of social justice in the context of circular economies, let alone how it might be enacted in policy and practice. Drawing on data generated from focus groups with circular economy experts and a content analysis of US-based governmental, NGO, and business literature on circular economies, we explore whether and how justice emerges in circular economy discourse. We explore the narratives that these actors use to describe justice, and the barriers they see in achieving just and inclusive circular economies. We aim to identify the ways in which social justice is defined and discussed – or not – by the actors who seem to be most actively pushing for a circular economy (CE). Our work addresses the critical need to articulate clearly what it is we mean by social justice in relation to the CE. For if the CE is to contribute to sustainable social transformations, justice must be more than a buzzword – the CE must be just by design.

循环经济（Circular Economy）常被视作可解决三类核心问题的路径：广义上的环境退化、经济停滞与社会弊病。本研究聚焦于最后一项主张，即循环经济能够带来社会效益。目前针对循环经济社会维度的研究文献较为匮乏（Geissdoerfer, Martin, Paulo Savaget, Nancy M. P. Bocken, 及Erik Jan Hultink，2017.《循环经济——一种新的可持续性范式？》，《清洁生产杂志》（Journal of Cleaner Production），第143卷，2017年2月，第757-768页，DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.），而针对循环经济语境下社会正义内涵的研究更为稀缺，更遑论探讨其在政策与实践中的落地路径。本研究依托对循环经济领域专家开展焦点小组访谈所获数据，以及对美国政府、非政府组织（Non-Governmental Organization，NGO）与商业机构发布的循环经济相关文献进行的内容分析，探究正义理念在循环经济话语体系中的呈现形式与存在状况。本研究同时梳理了上述行为主体阐释正义理念所采用的叙事框架，以及他们认为实现公平包容的循环经济所面临的各类阻碍。本研究旨在明确那些最为积极推动循环经济（CE）的行为主体对社会正义的定义、讨论方式，抑或完全未予涉及该议题的情形。本研究契合当前亟需明确循环经济语境下社会正义具体内涵的迫切需求。因为若要循环经济（CE）助力可持续社会转型，正义理念便不应仅为时髦热词，而需成为循环经济从设计之初便内嵌的核心属性。