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Full-Text Articles in Political Science

White Politics, Black Lives, & The Cost Of Being Green: Environmental Racism In Emelle, Alabama, Laura M. Wilson Sep 2023

White Politics, Black Lives, & The Cost Of Being Green: Environmental Racism In Emelle, Alabama, Laura M. Wilson

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In the 1970s, Emelle, Alabama welcomed the establishment of a new corporation and the promise of new economic opportunities. The small settlement, almost exclusively African-American (94%) and in poverty (67%) was selected by Waste Management, Inc., after lobbying by Governor George Wallace to create the largest hazardous waste landfill in the US. When a state policy change significantly increasing costs, production slowed, jobs dissipated (from 430 to 250), and destitution returned. At the same time, other problems began to the surface, including water contamination and increasing rates of childhood cancers, attributable to the toxic seepage. The dump still operates, but …


Growing Pains: Toward A Coalition-Based Theory Of State Land Use Policy, Patrick Rochford Jan 2023

Growing Pains: Toward A Coalition-Based Theory Of State Land Use Policy, Patrick Rochford

Honors Projects

In the decades following World War II, mass suburbanization remade the American landscape. While suburbs accounted for 83% of the nation’s growth between 1950 and 1970, cities bled their populations and natural resources dwindled. Treating the postwar era as a critical juncture, this thesis examines the political history of twentieth-century state land use policy to illuminate how competing interests have shaped policy outcomes across the United States. Specifically, the paper seeks to explain the passage of statewide growth management and smart growth programs. After providing a history of American suburbanization, the paper considers an emergent challenge to the postwar growth …