MULTI-CONTEXT MAPPING OF THE LITERATURE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES’ DISMANTLING

Abstract

The Policy Dismantling Framework (PDF) refers to a distinct form of public policy change involving cuts, reductions, or complete removals of existing policies. This article presents the results of a literature review on public policy dismantling, focusing on studies related to environmental policies. The research followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) standards for Scoping Review (ScR), using a search strategy based on the PCC (Problem-Concept-Context) strategy, using author keywords. We conducted searches in the Scopus, SciELO, and Digital Database of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) databases.  The analysis of mapped literature enabled us to characterize studies on environmental policies’ dismantling within the addressed main contexts, highlighting a greater concentration of studies in European Union countries and Brazil. The results indicate that in European Union countries, the use of the symbolic dismantling strategy stands out, based on a strong pro-dismantling discourse, grounded in criticism of the expansion of the number and intensity of environmental policies. In addition, dismantling by omission is observed, characterized by a decrease in proposals and the implementation of environmental laws. In Brazil, studies mobilizing PDF gained prominence mainly after the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration, starting in the symbolic dimension, with a strong anti-environmentalist discourse followed by one or more of the dismantling strategies: arenas' changing, especially implementing the militarization of environmental enforcement; dismantling by omission, primarily through budget cuts in environmental agencies and the reduction of infractions applied by IBAMA; and by active dismantling, through regulatory changes.