Title Garbage wars : the struggle for environmental justice in Chicago / David Naguib Pellow

Published Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2002

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 234 pages) : illustrations Series Urban and industrial environments Urban and industrial environments. Contents Waste, politics, and environmental injustice -- A social history of waste, race, and labor, part I: movements, technology, and politics, 1880s-1930s -- A social history of waste, race, and labor, part II: waste management and waste conflicts, 1940s-2000 -- The movement for environmental justice in Chicago and the United States -- Working for the movement: recycling labor at the resource center -- The next evolutionary stage: recycling waste or recycling history? -- Toward environmental justice Summary A study of the struggle for environmental justice, focusing on conflicts over solid waste and pollution in Chicago. In Garbage Wars, the sociologist David Pellow describes the politics of garbage in Chicago. He shows how garbage affects residents in vulnerable communities and poses health risks to those who dispose of it. He follows the trash, the pollution, the hazards, and the people who encountered them in the period 1880-2000. What unfolds is a tug of war among social movements, government, and industry over how we manage our waste, who benefits, and who pays the costs. Studies demonstrate that minority and low-income communities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards. Pellow analyzes how and why environmental inequalities are created. He also explains how class and racial politics have influenced the waste industry throughout the history of Chicago and the United States. After examining the roles of social movements and workers in defining, resisting, and shaping garbage disposal in the United States, he concludes that some environmental groups and people of color have actually contributed to environmental inequality. By highlighting conflicts over waste dumping, incineration, landfills, and recycling, Pellow provides a historical view of the garbage industry throughout the life cycle of waste. Although his focus is on Chicago, he places the trends and conflicts in a broader context, describing how communities throughout the United States have resisted the waste industry's efforts to locate hazardous facilities in their backyards. The book closes with suggestions for how communities can work more effectively for environmental justice and safe, sustainable waste management Analysis ENVIRONMENT/General SOCIAL SCIENCES/Sociology Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-227) and index Notes English Society for the Study of Social Problems C. Wright Mills Award, 2002 Print version record Subject Environmental justice -- Illinois -- Chicago Refuse and refuse disposal -- Social aspects -- Illinois -- Chicago SCIENCE -- Environmental Science (see also Chemistry -- Environmental) POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Environmental Policy. Environmental justice Refuse and refuse disposal -- Social aspects Illinois -- Chicago Form Electronic book ISBN 9780262281355 026228135X 0585436924 9780585436920 0262162121 9780262162128 026266187X 9780262661874 9780262250290 0262250292

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