Presents case studies of grassroots activism for environmental justice, highlighting struggles against environmental hazards, toxic waste dumps, and polluting factories which often impact low-income and minority communities Examines one of the fastest growing social movements in the United States, the movement for environmental justice. Tracing the movement's roots, this book provides case studies of communities across the US - towns like Kettleman City, California; Chester, Pennsylvania; and Dilkon, Arizona - and their struggles against corporate polluters. Acknowledgments xi Preface: We Speak for Ourselves: The Struggle of Kettleman City 1(9) Introduction 10(9) A History of the Environmental Justice Movement 19(15) The Political Economy of Environmental Racism: Chester Residents Concerned for Quality of Life 34(20) Environmental Racism: Beyond the Distributive Paradigm 54(26) Buttonwillow: Resistance and Disillusion in Rural California 80(23) Processes of Struggle: Grassroots Resistance and the Structure of Environmental Decision Making 103(31) In Defense of Mother Earth: The Indigenous Environmental Network 134(17) Transformative Politics 151(16) Appendix 167(18) Notes 185(46) Index 231(13) About the Authors 244