Contact information
My research focuses on environmental conflicts shaped by different conceptualizations of the environment, justice, knowledge, and ways of living - some more sustainable and less destructive than others. In this contested discursive and embodied terrain, I explore the potential for transformation drawing from political ecology and a decolonial environmental justice perspective.
My research on environmental justice has predominantly emphasized the social, political and ecological challenges perpetrated against Romani and affiliated communities in Europe and their resistance to socio-spatial stigmatization, neoliberal economic initiatives that facilitate their displacement, and insufficiencies in the implementation of policies and laws. This work is most recently captured in my forthcoming (2026) book chapter, "Advancing Environmental Justice in Europe: Roma Affirmation, Institutional Efficacy and Community Vitality" in a volume on Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life (European Centre for Minority Issues, Brill Publishers). Further published research on this topic is forthcoming (2027) in a book by Sergen Gül, Fatoş Kaytan, and myself entitled: “Amari Mahala: Anti-Gypsyism and the Struggle for Environmental Justice in Türkiye" by University of Amsterdam Press.
Another aspect of my research on environmental justice is based on examining health inequalities, particularly along race, class and gendered lines and intersectionalities. I have contributed to reports for the World Health Organization (WHO) including "Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region" (2013) and "Inequalities in Inability to Keep the Home Adequately Warm", WHO Environmental Health Inequalities in Europe, Second Assessment Report (2019).
In investigating the potential for transformation toward environmental and social justice, some of my other research has focused on:
- urban sustainability and justice (Horizon Project: Urban Arena for Sustainable and Equitable Solutions - URBANA). See Avelino, F., van Steenbergen, F., Schipper, K., Steger, T., Henfrey, T., Cook, I.M., Bach, M., Crowley, D., Kotsila, P., Kramer, J. and Crudi, F., 2024. Mapping the diversity & transformative potential of approaches to sustainable just cities. Urban Transformations, 6(1), pp.1-29.
- climate change litigation activism
- local movements against hydro-power development: Puecker, C. and Steger, T., 2023. Protecting the Last Wild River in Europe from Hydropower Development in Albania: An Environmental Movement Strategy in a Flawed Democracy. Case Studies in the Environment, 7(1).
- the anti-fracking movement (Steger, T. and Drehobl, A. 2017. The Anti-fracking Movement in Ireland. Environmental Communication and Steger, T. and M. Milicevic. 2014. “One Global Movement, Many Local Voices: Discourse(s) of the Global Anti-Fracking Movement”, in Liam Leonard , Sya Buryn Kedzior (ed.) Occupy the Earth: Global Environmental Movements (Advances in Sustainability and Environmental Justice, Volume 15) Emerald Group Publishing Limited).
- Occupy movement (Steger, T. 2013. “Occupy Wall Street: An Alternative Discourse.” Rethinking Urban Inclusion: Spaces, Mobilizations. Interventions. CEScontexto, Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra, Portugal. Issue 2, Summer)
Teaching and learning are also an important part of my profile. I received CEU's Distinguished Teaching Award and received a Teaching Development Grant to explore an innovative pedagogical method for garnering student feedback throughout the duration of a course to adapt and enhance the on-going classroom learning experience.
As part of my commitment to upholding CEU's mission at the institutional level, I contribute to several committees including CEU's Ethical Research Committee, Grievance Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee and Chair the Equal Opportunity Committee.
