Celebrating the Achievements of Zaiwalla Scholar Bhimraj Muthu at Oxford University
We are delighted to share the accomplishments of Bhimraj Muthu, our Zaiwalla Scholar at the University of Oxford. As part of his MPhil in Law, Bhimraj has completed a thesis that explores an often-overlooked aspect of environmental justice: the intersection between environmental degradation and social inequality, with a specific focus on North Chennai.
Bhimraj’s research represents the core values of the Zaiwalla Scholarship – encouraging future legal professionals to engage critically with pressing social and environmental issues. His work is a call to action, advocating for a more equitable application of environmental law that addresses the needs of marginalised communities.
Read Bhimraj’s full thesis summary below…
Environmental Casteism in North Chennai: A Study of Caste, Sacrifice Zones and Laws
Bhimraj Muthu, MPhil in Law, University of Oxford
Abstract
This thesis is an environmental law study that examines the relationship between laws, sacrifice zones, and environmental casteism in North Chennai. Environmental casteism refers to the environmental injustice faced by marginalised castes. Although it may manifest in multiple ways, this thesis focuses on its manifestation through sacrifice zones. Sacrifice zones refer to geographical areas disproportionately burdened with industrial pollution. Thus, environmental casteism through sacrifice zones occurs by concentrating polluting industries in marginalised castes’ neighbourhoods or housing marginalised castes in polluted places.
North Chennai contains a disproportionate number of polluting industries and marginalised caste neighbourhoods compared to other parts of the city. While there is an acknowledgement of the physical degradation of North Chennai, there is insufficient recognition of its disproportionate impact on marginalised castes. Thus, this thesis highlights the social dimension of North Chennai’s environmental problems using environmental casteism and sacrifice zones.
Further, this thesis maps the role of laws relating to environmental protection and planning in converting North Chennai into a sacrifice zone. It provides a thick description of laws to better understand their role by taking into consideration Tamil Nadu’s legal culture. This thesis identifies the thoughtlessness of the Dravidian political parties’ social justice model towards caste-based injustices as a primary feature of Tamil Nadu’s legal culture. Such thoughtlessness shapes the enactment and enforcement of laws in Tamil Nadu.
The central argument of the thesis is that the complex interaction of laws has turned North Chennai into a sacrifice zone that disproportionately affects the marginalised castes. The complexity is primarily due to multiple statutes and governmental authorities responsible for decision-making. One common thread that runs through these operations of laws is their failure to consider the disproportionate impact on marginalised castes. Such a failure resonates and fits the thoughtlessness of the Dravidian political parties’ social justice model.
