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Areas of interest: Cultural Geography, Political Ecology, Environmental Justice, Race
Faculty Advisor:ÌýEmily Yeh

Thesis

2012 - Open Space? Environmentalism and the Politics of Belonging in Â鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

Research Interests

Ph.D. Dissertation title: Open Space? Environmentalism and the Politics of Belonging in Â鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

My dissertation uses an environmental justice framework to investigate how environmental discourses intersect with racial discourses in Â鶹ӰԺ, Colorado by examining the politics of belonging constructed through local environmental narratives. It argues, first, that racial discourses undergird many environmental narratives, decisions, and visions in Â鶹ӰԺ. Second, people’s experiences of belonging and exclusion in Â鶹ӰԺ are expressed in spatial terms, including city spaces and open space. Third, attempts at social inclusivity in Â鶹ӰԺ across race and class lines often elide unequal power relations inherent in such social differences. By examining environmental discourse, racial discourse, and the overlap between the two in the specific location of Â鶹ӰԺ, my study informs the ways environmental meanings and racial meanings overlap at multiple scales and thus potential ways forward in making environmental protection more inclusive and socially just.

Selected Publications

Abby Hickcox. (2009).ÌýGreen Belt, White City: Race and the Natural Landscape in Â鶹ӰԺ, Colorado.ÌýDiscourse 29(2&3, Spring and Fall 2007): 236-259. .

Publications updated February 2011