How a woman-led citizens’ group beat a Southern political machine
by enlisting federal bureaucrats and judges to protect their
neighborhood from unchecked economic development  This
social history of local political activism tells the story of the
decades-long fight to save Green Springs, Virginia, illuminating
the economic tradeoffs of protecting the environment, the origins
of NIMBYism, the changing nature of local control, and the
surprising power of history to advance public policy. Â Rae
Ely faced long odds when she launched a campaign in 1970 to stop a
prison, then a strip mine, in Green Springs. The local political
machine supported both projects, promising jobs for impoverished
Louisa County, Virginia. But Ely and her allies prevailed by
repurposing the same tactics used by the Civil Rights
movement—the appeal to federal agencies and courts to circumvent
local control—and by using new historical interpretations to
create the first rural National Historic Landmark District. Â
The Green Springs protesters fought to preserve the historic
character of their neighborhood and the surrounding environment in
a quest that epitomized the conflict in late twentieth-century
America between unbridled economic development for all and
protecting the quality of life for an economically privileged few.
Ely’s tactics are now used by neighborhood groups across the
nation, even if they have been applied in ways she never intended:
to resist any form of development.
General
Imprint: |
Yale University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2024 |
Authors: |
Brian Balogh
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
384 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-300-25378-8 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-300-25378-8 |
Barcode: |
9780300253788 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!