Overview

Green City Rising is an ethnographic account of collective organizing for environmental justice in an era of growing concern about environmental and climate challenges. The conventional sustainability paradigm promises improved environmental conditions for all, such as fresh air and clean water, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, green space access, and protection from climate crises. Yet, without particular interventions, the pursuit of such environmental amenities often contributes to displacement and further harm for communities that have historically borne the brunt of land theft, racial capitalism, and toxic industries. Drawing on the work of an alliance of grassroots organizations called the Portland Harbor Community Coalition (PHCC), Erin Goodling shows how communities have come together across lines of race and class to work for a more just, green future in Portland, Oregon. Green City Rising reveals that the violence of settler colonialism and white supremacy are far from endpoints: a collective vision for a better future is emerging, and ordinary people are building the understanding, skills, and relationships necessary to usher it in.

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9780820363851

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Reviews

"Green City Rising offers a detailed look at how grassroots coalitions can have an impact, even when up against the 'green growth machine' of real estate development, local politicians, and seemingly impenetrable bureaucratic agencies like the EPA.--Melissa Checker ""author of Polluted Promises: Environmental Racism and the Search for Justice in a Southern Town"" This book is a powerful account of how a coalition of ordinary people can turn an environmentally unjust power arrangement into one that approaches environmental justice--something we need more examples of in the field of environmental justice studies.--David N. Pellow ""author of Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice"" In this beautifully written book, Erin Goodling documents the challenges and possibilities of environmental justice activism in a ""green"" city. Based on years of fieldwork, Goodling details the contamination of a vital urban river, the limitations of state-led efforts to clean it, and the emergence of new forms of activism. Green City Rising is especially notable for the way it centers houseless communities, which have long been a footnote in environmental justice scholarship. Essential reading for all those interested in environmental justice, urban studies, and community organizing.--Laura Pulido, Collins Chair and Professor of Indigenous, Race & Ethnic Studies and Geography at the University of Oregon Green City Rising does an excellent job of showing and tracing the genuine, deep connections among social, economic, and environmental exploitations, displacements, and injustices. It also it provides detailed ethnographic insight into how the coalition's participants are politicized, revelations that speak to current debates about regarding intersectionality in environmental politics.--James McCarthy, director, Graduate School of Geography and Leo L. and Joan Kraft Laskoff Professor of Economics, Technology, and Environment, Clark University"

"Green City Rising offers a detailed look at how grassroots coalitions can have an impact, even when up against the 'green growth machine' of real estate development, local politicians, and seemingly impenetrable bureaucratic agencies like the EPA.--Melissa Checker ""author of Polluted Promises: Environmental Racism and the Search for Justice in a Southern Town"" This book is a powerful account of how a coalition of ordinary people can turn an environmentally unjust power arrangement into one that approaches environmental justice--something we need more examples of in the field of environmental justice studies.--David N. Pellow ""author of Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice"" Green City Rising does an excellent job of showing and tracing the genuine, deep connections among social, economic, and environmental exploitations, displacements, and injustices. It also it provides detailed ethnographic insight into how the coalition's participants are politicized, revelations that speak to current debates about regarding intersectionality in environmental politics.--James McCarthy, director, Graduate School of Geography and Leo L. and Joan Kraft Laskoff Professor of Economics, Technology, and Environment, Clark University"

Author Information

Erin Goodling is a researcher and public scholar who received her PhD in Urban Studies from the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. She has worked extensively with the Western Regional Advocacy Project, an alliance of homeless-led activist groups across the western U.S., as well as others focused on housing, anticriminalization, and environmental justice.

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