Graduation Year
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Angela Stuesse, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Dinorah Martinez Tyson, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Committee Member
Rebecca Zarger, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Cheryl Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Julie Baldwin, Ph.D.
Keywords
Environmental Justice, Power, Community Benefits Agreements, Central Florida, African American History
Abstract
Progress Village, a historically Black neighborhood outside of Tampa, FL, encountered structural violence that included construction of an adjacent phosphogypsum stack. Why the neighborhood signed a legal agreement with the stack’s operating industry and the impacts of this decision provides a lesson in critical environmental justice. Theories of urban political ecology frame exploration of resident priorities, relationships with industry, risk perceptions, and health concerns. Utilizing activist anthropology, this thesis aims to be mutually beneficial to scholarly and neighborhood development. Ultimately, this research demonstrates how southern gradualism, racism, and a trend towards isolationism created today’s striving, yet marginalized and divided community. This thesis encourages scholarship on everyday resident-industry interactions and provides insights to strengthen future Community Benefits Agreements, while questioning if such agreements serve environmental justice.
Scholar Commons Citation
Baum, Laura E., "Neighborhood Perceptions of Proximal Industries in Progress Village, FL" (2016). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/6180
Included in
Environmental Law Commons, Public Health Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
