Toxic Water, Toxic System: Environmental Racism and Michigan's Water War

by Michael Mascarenhas

Overview

The tireless resistance of local communities fighting for ownership of America’s third largest water system.
 
Toxic Water, Toxic System exposes the consequences of a seemingly anonymous authoritarian state willing to maintain white supremacy at any cost—including poisoning an entire city and shutting off water to thousands of people. Weaving together narratives of frontline activists along with archival data, Michael Mascarenhas provides a powerful exploration of the political alliances and bureaucratic mechanisms that uphold inequality.
 
Drawing from three years of ethnographic fieldwork in Flint and Detroit, this book amplifies the voices of marginalized communities, particularly African American women, whose perspectives and labor have been consistently overlooked. Toxic Water, Toxic System offers a fresh perspective on the ties between urban austerity policies, environmental harm, and the advancement of white supremacist agendas in predominantly Black and brown cities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520343863
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	334
Sales rank:	1,118,305
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael Mascarenhas is Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of New Humanitarianism and the Crisis of Charity: Good Intentions on the Road to Help and Where the Waters Divide: Neoliberalism, White Privilege, and Environmental Racism in Canada.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of Illustrations 
Preface 
Acknowledgments 

Introduction: Thirsty for Environmental Justice 
1. In the Service of White Privilege 
2. Flint: The Anvil of Democracy 
3. Defending the Karegnondi 
4. Foundation Colonialism 
5. Emergency (as a Paradigm of) Management 
6. Environments of Injustice 
7. The Water Is Off 
8. Shut Off and Shut Out 
9. We Charge Genocide 
Conclusion 

Notes 
References 
Index

Editorial Reviews

"A must-read for those curious about the ongoing water crisis in Michigan."

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