ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

Areas of interest: Cultural Geography, Political Ecology, Environmental Justice, Race
Faculty Advisor:ÌýEmily Yeh

Ph.D. Dissertation Title: Open Space? Environmentalism and the Politics of Belonging in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, Colorado

Research Interests

My dissertation uses an environmental justice framework to investigate how environmental discourses intersect with racial discourses in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, Colorado by examining the politics of belonging constructed through local environmental narratives. It argues, first, that racial discourses undergird many environmental narratives, decisions, and visions in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½. Second, people’s experiences of belonging and exclusion in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ are expressed in spatial terms, including city spaces and open space. Third, attempts at social inclusivity in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ across race and class lines often elide unequal power relations inherent in such social differences. By examining environmental discourse, racial discourse, and the overlap between the two in the specific location of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, my study informs the ways environmental meanings and racial meanings overlap at multiple scales and thus potential ways forward in making environmental protection more inclusive and socially just.

Selected Publications

Abby Hickcox. (2009).ÌýGreen Belt, White City: Race and the Natural Landscape in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, Colorado.ÌýDiscourse 29(2&3, Spring and Fall 2007): 236-259. .

Publications updated February 2011

Abby Hickcox is the Associate Director of the Honors Program at the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.