Benefits and burdens: The advantages and limitations of race-conscious and race-neutral approaches to environmental justice

This dissertation examines five states\u27 (DE, MD, PA, VA, WVA) responses to the racial dimensions of environmental inequality and seeks to understand why and with what consequences some states\u27 environmental justice efforts take a race-conscious approach (MD, PA WVA) while others (DE, VA) pursue race-neutral strategies. Through content and document analysis, survey research and face-to-face interviews, I found that the institutionalization of race-conscious or race-neutral approaches to environmental justice in these states depended primarily on three factors: whether they defined the issue through an open or closed process during the policy deliberation phase, the existence of local environmental justice activism, and the level of influence of business and industry interests on the state\u27s political institutions, particularly the states\u27 environmental regulatory agencies and legislative bodies. More broadly, I show how issue framing shapes policy goals which affect outcomes, is associated with divergent political trajectories and has important long-term political consequences. Additionally, my research reveals how such policies and approaches enable and constrain political action and shape individuals\u27 broader political awareness and interests. I found that by participating to demand more equitable outcomes in environmental policy, citizens learned to more fully to articulate their political interest, who their allies are, and how to approach their representatives. In short, engaging in this process helped citizens become more politically engaged. The non-political became a pathway to the political