University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The construction of environmental justice: Warren County, North Carolina

McGurty, Eileen Maura

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20719

Description

Title
The construction of environmental justice: Warren County, North Carolina
Author(s)
McGurty, Eileen Maura
Issue Date
1995
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Steelwater, Eliza K.
Department of Study
Urban and Regional Planning
Discipline
Regional Planning
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • History, United States
  • Political Science, General
  • Sociology, Social Structure and Development
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Urban and Regional Planning
Language
eng
Abstract
"By seeking to ameliorate environmental problems while also working to alleviate poverty and oppression, the construct of environmental justice has transformed environmental activism and altered the national environmental agenda. The controversy over the Warren County landfill is seen as the birth place of the environmental justice movement. Despite the importance assigned to Warren County, there has been no thorough analysis of the events. In this study, I analyze the Warren County events using a social movement theory which integrates issues of strategy and identity. I show that when the mostly white opposition changed their strategy to direct action and needed assistance from seasoned civil rights activists, the political and cultural context of Warren County created the necessary ingredients for this unlikely alliance. As a result of the alliance, the collective action frame changed from ""Not In My Backyard"" (NIMBY) to ""environmental racism."" The fear of loosing local control over a land use decision was the conceptual link between the broad injustice frame of environmental racism and the earlier, more narrow, NIMBY frame. Environmental racism was the catalyst to the more elaborative master frame of environmental justice which brought into question the entire hazardous waste policy."
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20719
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1995 McGurty, Eileen Maura

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Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Urban and Regional Planning
Dissertations in Regional Planning