Environmental (in)activism: pollution, people, and politics in two Indianapolis neighborhoods
type: CreativeWork
description: This research examines the development of environmental activism (or lack thereof) in response to urban environmental injustices in two communities to understand differences in response between the communities. The goal is to better understand how and why residents take action to secure improvements in environmental quality and the forces that inhibit activism. Local activism has played a key role in efforts to address and redress environmental injustices in the U.S. yet activism varies greatly among communities resulting in an uneven geography of environmental remediation and response. Two communities in Indianapolis, IN are chosen as case studies – West Indianapolis and Martindale-Brightwood. Both of these low-income communities endure an abundance of environmental hazards including toxic releases. However, each community has responded differently with Martindale-Brightwood residents forming an environmental justice collaborative, while no collective activism has emerged in West Indianapolis. Contrasting forms and levels of environmental activism provide an opportunity to investigate the place-specific forces that encourage or deter local environmental movements. The research objectives are: (1) Analyze the spatial distribution of environmental hazards in the two study areas relative to the City of Indianapolis, (2) Trace and interrogate the economic, political, ecological, and social forces which have collaboratively produced the damaging environmental histories of both areas, (3) Assess residents’ interpretations and understandings of environmental hazards and the influence of place attachment, perceptions of the hazards, and social capital in producing different interpretations and understandings of the local landscape within the study areas, and (4) Evaluate the roles of local institutions, including community development organizations, churches, government organizations and industries in producing or deterring activism. This research relies on quantitative an…
abstract: This research examines the development of environmental activism (or lack thereof) in response to urban environmental injustices in two communities to understand differences in response between the communities. The goal is to better understand how and why residents take action to secure improvements in environmental quality and the forces that inhibit activism. Local activism has played a key role in efforts to address and redress environmental injustices in the U.S. yet activism varies greatly among communities resulting in an uneven geography of environmental remediation and response. Two communities in Indianapolis, IN are chosen as case studies – West Indianapolis and Martindale-Brightwood. Both of these low-income communities endure an abundance of environmental hazards including toxic releases. However, each community has responded differently with Martindale-Brightwood residents forming an environmental justice collaborative, while no collective activism has emerged in West Indianapolis. Contrasting forms and levels of environmental activism provide an opportunity to investigate the place-specific forces that encourage or deter local environmental movements. The research objectives are: (1) Analyze the spatial distribution of environmental hazards in the two study areas relative to the City of Indianapolis, (2) Trace and interrogate the economic, political, ecological, and social forces which have collaboratively produced the damaging environmental histories of both areas, (3) Assess residents’ interpretations and understandings of environmental hazards and the influence of place attachment, perceptions of the hazards, and social capital in producing different interpretations and understandings of the local landscape within the study areas, and (4) Evaluate the roles of local institutions, including community development organizations, churches, government organizations and industries in producing or deterring activism. This research relies on quantitative an…
author: Fuller, Trevor K.
language: en
keywords: environmental justice, Activism, environmental hazards, Indianapolis, Martindale-Brigthwood, West Indianapolis
date published: 2011-08-25T22:18:57Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:26Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26210