Polluted Promises: Environmental Racism and the Search for Justice in a Southern Town
“In this highly readable account . . . Checker has written a fine book. Assigned to students interested in urbanism, science and technology studies, race relations in the United States, environment, or social movements, the book is sure to spark thoughtful conversation.”-American Anthropologist,“Melissa Checker's absorbing story is a portrait of America.Polluted Promisesshowcases the complex links between toxic waste and race, and the hope-filled journeys of environmental activists who are wise, strong, and spiritual in their fight against toxic waste—and for their lives. Checker is doing public anthropology for social justice.”-Carol Stack,author ofAll Our Kin“I hope that (this book) doesn't get pidgeonholed as a dry, academic treatise, because it is anything but that. It is a wonderfully written account of the struggles by the residents of Hyde Park, a neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia, to undo decades of...environmental racism.”-In Brief,“A very rich, organized, and theoretically interesting ethnographic case study of environmental activism. Checker beautifully recounts how the issues of race emerged and were manipulated in social organizing against environmental poisoning.”-George E. Marcus,author ofEthnography through Thick and Thin“Polluted Promisesis a substantial accomplishment. It grounds the notion of environmental justice wonderfully in practical terms, in the theoretically sophisticated and empathetic examination of Hyde Park.”-Adolph Reed, Jr.,author ofClass Notes: Posing As Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene