The consequences of neoliberal colorblind policies concerning environmental justice in Michigan are explored using critical race theorist Alan Freeman’s victim and perpetrator perspectives on legal decision-making. The victim perspective allows evidence of disparate impact to be proof of unequal protection under the law. The dominant perpetrator perspective requires proof of the intent to discriminate for a racial discrimination claim to be valid. Michigan’s environmental legal history is examined through the lens of these two perspectives, tracing how Michigan as a state, with the aid of the federal government, has institutionalized a racialized caste system of ‘worthiness’ for environmental protection through strict adherence to the perpetrator perspective. Specific attention is paid to the water crisis in Flint and a Marathon Oil refinery in Detroit. The injustices occurring at these locations are less the result of racist individuals than the product of decades of neoliberal colorblind policymaking supported and upheld in our court rooms.
Recently, a number of state legislatures in the United States have sought to loosen restrictions on the carrying of concealed firearms on university campuses. Often these legislative initiatives are driven by the argument that concealed firearms on campuses will deter crime. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to variation in employee support for the carrying of concealed firearms. Moreover, little is known about the intersection between fear of crime, trust in the police, and support for concealed firearms on campus. Given that, this study draws on a survey administered to a random sample of faculty and staff at one large rural university in the Western United States ( n = 1,170). More specifically, this study examines whether fear of workplace violence and/or trust in police and local government predict/predicts support for concealed firearms on campus, even after controlling for other potential factors such as prior victimization, political orientation, and demographic background. Results indicate that fear of violence and distrust in the police/government are strongly related to support for concealed carry, though a number of other factors matter, including political orientation, social capital, and respondent demographic characteristics.
Fieldwork is wrought with challenges and emotional obstacles. Techniques of dealing with these logistical challenges are well discussed in the literature; however, rarely are the emotions involved in fieldwork explored, nor are the specific techniques for dealing with this emotional fallout. In this paper, I explore not only the emotions of fieldwork, specifically as a woman in a male dominated research setting, but actual tactics for dealing with these feelings - tactics I call ‘flanking gestures.’ Flanking gestures are techniques that allow the researcher to blur and stretch their gender, which I suggest provides a certain amount of emotional relief in the field.
This essay examines the intersections between urban sociology and criminology in relation to fear of crime. I argue that there is a disconnect between theory and practice when it comes to reducing fear of crime that needs to be resolved in order for the postindustrial city to attract the new middle-class demographic that is known for embracing and seeking out diversity. Despite the contributions made by environmental criminologists and new urbanists, the most popular explanation of fear of crime and crime reduction, offered by the field of criminology, focuses on reducing quality-of-life offenses and incivilities. Yet, these strategies are not known to significantly reduce fear of crime, but rather for purging the urban landscape of its diversity through exclusion.In recent decades, much of the literature that draws upon the fields of urban sociology and criminology focuses on the connection between disorder, feeling safe, and land-use patterns. Yet, in practice, the lessons learned from urban sociology are often treated as secondary to those from criminology. I argue that the rigid frameworks of each perspective need to become more flexible in order for a more complete understanding of the intersections between the urban environment and fear of crime to emerge. 1 In criminology, the idea that "safe" and "clean" are inseparable is widely accepted and rarely challenged. Further, when we look to the field of urban sociology, we see indications that the demographic makeup and consumeristic desires of an emerging postindustrial urban middle class, what Richard Florida (2002) calls the creative class, are considerably different from more traditional understandings of middle-class needs and wants.This new demographic is notably drawn to urban areas with a unique postindustrial subculture, what have been referred to as "unconventional" (Rosdil 1991;Sharp 2005; Sharp and Joslyn 2008) or "new political culture" cities (DeLeon and Naff 2004). Urban centers that fall into this category are characterized by postindustrial transformations involving residents with high educational attainment, low levels of church participation, increased non-traditional household structures, more women in the workforce, and those who tend to have creative jobs such as architect, design professionals, or artists (Sharp and Joslyn 2008). Further, this creative class has displayed an unusual tolerance for many factors that criminologists traditionally associate with disorder and fear of crime, like racial, ethnic, sexual, and class diversity, urban grit and decay, and mixed-use planning (Florida 2005, 36; Sharp and Joslyn 2008). The emergence of these unconventional cities and the populations drawn to them has considerable implications for urban and criminological politics and policy and highlights the need for more integration between fields.Before exploring the implications of the creative class on urban planning and policing, I provide a brief overview of fear of crime in the city. Next, the politics of public space are examined. In this se...
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