ABSTRACT
In international negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), justice is usually understood as justice between the so-called Global North and the Global South. This is apparent in international environmental negotiations, where environmental and climate justice are used as concepts to refer to inequalities between world regions. Still, this debate is largely driven from views and perspectives from countries of the North. Southern views remain marginalized within the debate – and this holds particularly true for views from marginalized and less resourceful actors like social movements. This contribution focuses on how social movement organizations in the so-called Global South frame global norms in their home countries. It investigates the adoption of “environmental justice” and “climate justice” to the local South African context. Therewith the contribution discusses the issue of stratification and inequalities in its global dimensions, bringing the perspective of the South into this debate from two directions: First through the analysis of the frames and images of global inequalities as put forward in the climate justice debate, and second, through linking this debate to the class and racially divided society within South Africa.
