A New Species of Environmental Injustice: Natural-technological Events and Social Marginalization in the United States

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dc.contributor.advisorElliott, James Ren_US
dc.creatorBrown, Phylicia Xin Yi Leeen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-22T15:51:29Zen_US
dc.date.created2024-05en_US
dc.date.issued2024-04-11en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2024en_US
dc.date.updated2024-05-22T15:51:29Zen_US
dc.descriptionEMBARGO NOTE: This item is embargoed until 2026-05-01en_US
dc.description.abstractClimate change's impact on exacerbating existing environmental injustices (EIs) has garnered significant attention. However, less explored are the implications of climate change-induced flooding on ongoing EIs within areas of industrial-technological concentration where socially marginalized populations reside and work. This dissertation seeks to illuminate this "new species of EI": the flooding of toxic industrial facilities, or natural-technological (natech) events, and their unequal distribution and burdens on socially marginalized populations across the contiguous United States (CONUS). Guided by political economy theories through an intersectional environmental framework, the subsequent quantitative and spatial analyses utilize federally-funded datasets to uncover the unequal distribution, production, and potential future pathways of natech events in socially marginalized neighborhoods across the CONUS. These findings underscore the importance of employing intersectional environmental frameworks to critically examine how interconnected systems of oppression contribute to the uneven distribution of intersecting environmental hazards for socially marginalized populations in a climate-changed world. This dissertation first illuminates the frequent occurrence and disproportionate clustering of natech events in neighborhoods characterized by socially marginalized Black and Hispanic populations across the CONUS. Longitudinal analysis reveals the unequal production of natech environmental injustices in socially marginalized neighborhoods, exacerbating negative socio-natural transformations. Additionally, it sheds light on the significant future natech risks for socially marginalized populations across the CONUS, underscoring the urgency for large-scale and cooperative structural interventions to address industrial-technological injustices. These findings advocate for an intersectional environmental framework, integrating various environmental-related sociological subfields to address the compounding environmental hazards and inequities exacerbated by the ongoing climate crisis. Ultimately, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of environmental injustices towards the development of more effective mitigation and resilience strategies in an era of climate crisis.en_US
dc.embargo.lift2026-05-01en_US
dc.embargo.terms2026-05-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationBrown, Phylicia. A New Species of Environmental Injustice: Natural-technological Events and Social Marginalization in the United States. (2024). PhD diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/116166en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/116166en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental Injusticeen_US
dc.subjectNatural-technologicalen_US
dc.subjectIndustrial-technological Hazardsen_US
dc.subjectFloodingen_US
dc.subjectClimate Changeen_US
dc.titleA New Species of Environmental Injustice: Natural-technological Events and Social Marginalization in the United Statesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentSociologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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