Mapping Environmental Racism in the contaminated North End of Champaign, IL

This study seeks to map the social and spatial practices that produce environmental racism in an ethically diverse, nonwhite, low-income and contaminated community located on the North End of Champaign, IL. Research questions posed focus on how resurgent theories on the spatiality of racism can better explain the persistence of environmental injustices in these settings as a consequence of larger, translocal, and uneven urban development processes. Study outcomes will include a mapping from below of toxic sites in the North End that resulted in residents reconceiving the relationship of places in which they live, work, and play to those of adjacent white suburbs and downtown. Artifacts of this collaborative research will be archived as products of value to both community activists and academic scholars.

For more information on this working group, please contact Ken Salo kensalo@uiuc.edu