Racial and Social Diversity and U.S. Presidential Election Regions

Abstract

This article examines political regionalism in presidential elections from 1892 to 2000 by analyzing the percentage of the popular vote received by Democratic candidates for president using statistical methods and spatial analysis. The results indicate three long-term and stable political regions in presidential elections and a history of spatially dependent voting. The article then proposes four fluid political regions based on social diversity and recent political behavior and integrates the role of the Electoral College. This provides a framework in which political geography can integrate political regionalism, racial and social diversity, and the electoral vote in studying presidential elections.     

Reviews

Abstract

Wetlands of the American Midwest: A Historical Geography of Changing Attitudes, Hugh Prince, Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. 1997. 412 pp. ISBN 0226682838. $21.00 (paper).

Worlds of Welfare: Understanding the Changing Geographies of Social Welfare Provision, Steven Pinch, New York, New York: Routledge. 1997. 167 pp. plus xiv ISBN 0415111897. $20.99 (paper).

The Earth Transformed: An Introduction to Human Impacts on the Environment, Andrew Goudie, Heather Viles, Maiden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers. 1997. 276 pp. ISBN 0631194657 $29.95 (paper).     

BOOK REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: USA, Eine Geographische Landeskunde , Vol. I, Der Grossraum in Strukturellem, Wandel, 3rd Ed. Helmut Blume . Introduction to Remote Sensing . James B. Campbell . The Sounds of People and Places: Readings in the Geography of American Folk and Popular Music . George O. Carney , ED. Development and Underdevelopment . John Cole . Mobility and Employment in Urban Southeast Asia: Example from Indonesia and the Philippines . Michael A. Costello , Thomas R. Leinbach , AND Richard Ulack . Soviet Asia: Economic Development and National Policy Choices . Leslie Dienes . The Third World City . David Drakakis -Smith . Scholars' Guide to Washington, DC for Cartography and Remote Sensing Imagery (maps, charts, aerial photographs, satellite images, cartographic literature and geographic information systems). Ralph E. Ehrenberg . Population and Development in the Third World . Allan AND Anne Findlay . The Early Mapping of Hawaii . Gary L. Fitzpatrick . Energetics of Physical Environment: Energetic Approaches to Physical Geography . K. J. Gregory , ED. Wildland Recreation: Ecology and Management . William E. Hammitt and David N. Cole . Agricultural Commercialization and Government Policy in Africa . J. Hinderink AND J. J. Sterkenburg . The Dynamics of American Housing . James W. Hughes AND George Sternlieb . Thailand: Buddhist Kingdom as Modern Nation State . Charles F. Keyes . Resolving Locational Conflict . Robert W. Lake , ED. Lands at Risk in the Third World: Local-level Perspectives . Peter D. Little and Michael M. Horowitz , EDS. Nathaniel Southgate Shaler and the Culture of American Science . David N. Livingstone . Regions: The Economics and Politics of Territory . Ann R. Markusen . Wetlands . William J. Mitsch and James G. Gosselink . Historical Geography: Progress and Prospect . Michael Pacione , ED. Loess and Periglacial Phenomena . Marton P$eacsi and Hugh M. French , EDS. Regional Management of Metropolitan Floodplains, Experience in the United States and Abroad . Rutherford H. Platt , ED. Human Cartography: Mapping the World of Man . Janos Szegö . Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History . Helen H. Tanner , ED. The Botany of Mangroves . P. B. Tomlinson . Urban Spatial Traffic Patterns . Rodney Vaughan . The Night After … Climatic and Biological Consequences of a Nuclear War . Yevgeni Velikhov , ED. Industrial Geography . H. D. Watts . Dictionary of Quotations in Geography . James O. Wheeler and Francis M. Sibley . Vermont Townscape . Norman Wiliams , Jr. , Edmund K. Kellogg and Peter M. Lavigne .     

BOOK REVIEWS

Abstract

The Regional Geography of Canada, 3rd ed.Robert M. Bone Oxford University Press 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, ON, M3C 1J9, Canada 2005, xxi + 572 pp Hard Cover ($45.00 US) ISBN 0-19-541933-2     

Employing SWOT Analysis in Coursework on the Geographies of Regional Economic Development and Trade

Abstract

The use of SWOT analysis is a means through which geography students can investigate key concepts in economic geography and essential topics in regional economic development. This article discusses the results of a course project where economic geography students employed SWOT analysis to explore medium-sized metropolitan areas across the southern United States and their suitability for export-led development. The results suggest that students were able to critically evaluate these urban regions and their potential for integration into the global economy. This case also intimates that the SWOT concept could be applied to other situations and regions in geography coursework.     

Systematic Geography for Grade 4: A Spatial Systems Approach

Abstract

Various social and geographical strategies that have been used to assign children to schools in the United States are examined in order to: 1) support the contention that social space and geographic space are rarely considered in concert in the context of community problem solving, 2) point out the need for the consideration of various socio-spatial concepts such as action space, territoriality, and neighborhood in social scientific research addressing itself to the understanding of social issues, and 3) urge consideration of the fundamental changes overtaking American society, particularly the processes of time-space convergence which underlie the socio-geographical reorganization of earth space.     

Telegraph Messenger Boys: Crossing the Borders between History of Technology and Human Geography

Abstract

Historians of telegraphy have traditionally focused on the system-builders who invented wire communications technologies and incorporated them into profit-making enterprises. Geographers of communications have traditionally traced the changes that the telegraph network wrought on the rank-size of cities and the speed of business. Both have ignored the history of the telegraph messenger boys and the “lived geography” of the telegraph network. This article summarizes a study of telegraph messengers as both active components of technological systems and laboring agents within produced urban spaces, bringing together the fields of both history of technology and human geography.

     

Media Institute on Geographic Concepts

Abstract

A new political geography has emerged that stresses the political conflict behind the production of space. This orientation in the subdiscipline constitutes a turn away from traditional political geography, where the emphasis had previously been on the spatial distribution of political phenomena. The “new” political geographic theory has been applied to the study of environmental issues, turning the attention of scholars to the political struggle behind the construction of nature as well as space. This article reviews how the new political geography of the environment (NPGE) perspective has impacted the study of such environmental phenomena as hazards, siting issues, human-land relationships, resources, development, and international environmental governance. It concludes by suggesting how the NPGE perspective can inform pedagogy in environmental education.     

FARM BILL MAY MEAN FUNDS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH

Millicent Todd Bingham was the first and only woman to earn a Ph.D. in the Department of Geology and Geography at Harvard. A talented linguist, she published in the classic tradition of the French school of human geography. Her professional geographic career came to a halt when she elected to edit the poems and letters of Emily Dickinson, work originally begun by her mother, Mabel Loomis Todd. Bingham's efforts resulted in the publication of several books and articles fundamental to the Dickinson scholarship. She credits her geographic training for much of her literary success.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:

Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing Aerial photography and image interpretation for Resource Management. DAVIDP. PAINE.

Analytical Models and Techniques Spatial Processes Models and ApplicationsA. D. CLIFFAND J. K. ORD

Quantitative and Statistical Approaches to Geography: A Practical ManualJOHNA. MATTHEWS.

Cartography and Maps Map Data Processing. HERBERTFREEMANAND GOFFREDOG. PIERONI, eds.

Computer-assisted Cartography: Principles and Prospects, 1982. MARKS. MONMONIER.

Cultural Navajo Architecture: Forms, History, Distributions. STEPHENC. JETTAND VIRGINIAE . SPENCER.

Rational Landscapes and Humanistic Geography. EDWARDRELPH.

Economic The Structure and Control of a State Economy. W. L. L'ESPERANCE.

Economic Geography. JAMES O. WHEELER AND PETER O. MULLER.

The Myth of the Family Farm: Agribusiness Dominance of U.S. Agriculture. INGOLF VOCELER.

Libya: The Experience of Oil. J. A. ALLEN.

Geography of Public Finance, Welfare Under Fiscal Federalism and local Government Finance. ROBERT BENNETT.

Environmental Management, Resources, and Systems Mountains and Man. LARRY W. PRICE.

Environmental Geology. DONALD R. COATES.

An Introduction to Environmental Systems. G. H. DURY.

The Environment: Chinese and American Views. Edited by LAURENCE J. C. MAAND ALLEN G. NOBLE.

Land Use in America. RICHARD H. JACKSON.

Medical Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Medical Geography. MELINDA S. MEADE (ed.).

Philosophy and Geographic Thought Birds in Egg/Eggs in Bird. GUNNAR OLSSON.

PhysicaI Climatology: Selected Applications. J. E. OLIVER.

Geomorphological Techniques. ANDREW GOUDIE (ed.).

Political Politics, Geography and Behaviour. RICHARD MUIR AND RONAN PADDISON.

The State of the World Atlas. MICHAEL KIDRON AND RONALD SECAL.

Population The Population of the South. DUDLEY L. POSTON, JR. AND ROBERT H. WELLER, eds.

Regional Latin America: Economic Development and Regional Differentiation. ARTHUR MORRIS.

Developing the Amazon. EMILIO F. MORAN.

Western Europe: A Systematic Human Geography. BRIAN W. ILBERY.

Settlement Systems in Sparsely Settled Regions: The United States and Australia. RICHARD E. LONSDALEAND JOHN H. HOLMES, eds.

African Perspectives: The Economic Geography of Nine African States. HARMDEBUJAND ESMOND MARTIN, eds.

Rural Nonmetropolitan America in Transition. AMOS H. HAWLEYAND SARA MILLS MAZIE, eds.

Social Crime and Environment. R. NORMAN DAVIDSON.

The Ghetto: Readings with Interpretations. JOE T. DARDEN, ed.

Urban Urban Problems and Planning in the Developed World. MICHAEL PACIONE (ed.)

Problems and Planning in Third World Cities. Edited by MICHAEL PACIONE.

The City in West Europe. D. BURTENSHAW, M. BATEMAN, AND C. J. ASHWORTH.     

Racial and Social Diversity and U.S. Presidential Election Regions

This article examines political regionalism in presidential elections from 1892 to 2000 by analyzing the percentage of the popular vote received by Democratic candidates for president using statistical methods and spatial analysis. The results indicate three long‐term and stable political regions in presidential elections and a history of spatially dependent voting. The article then proposes four fluid political regions based on social diversity and recent political behavior and integrates the role of the Electoral College. This provides a framework in which political geography can integrate political regionalism, racial and social diversity, and the electoral vote in studying presidential elections.     

MINIMUM LETTER SIZE FOR VISUAL AIDS∗

Results from behavioral investigations of urban travel indicate the importance of privacy as a personal construct that significantly affects the manner in which individuals traverse North American urban transportation networks. With an expectation of encountering social heterogeneity in travel, the privacy aspect becomes all the more important to the traveling public. It is hypothesized in this paper that social heterogeneity within urban travel corridors significantly reduces patronage of public transportation by residents of these corridors. A causal analysis of bus patronage in travel corridors of Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut results in the acceptance of the hypothesized relationship, and it points out a critical question that must be addressed if public transportation is to meet the desires of consumers of travel services.     

Dark side of the planet: hidden dimensions of urban agglomeration

ABSTRACT

This intervention probes the hidden, political dimensions of planetary urbanization. Drawing on political theory, it approaches its analysis through the analytic of ‘the political,’ the dimension in which antagonism performs a constitutive function in the social order. In doing so the intervention throws into relief the ways in which group-based differentiation, conflict, and exclusion establish the conditions of possibility for ongoing transformations of urban agglomeration. It then develops a case for further exploring intersections of the political and capitalist agglomeration to generate new knowledge about current mutations in urban economies of space.     

COMMENTS ON “SPATIAL VARIATION OF HILLSLOPE PROFILES IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU,KENTUCKY” BY EDMUND B. WOOOS

Book Reviewed in this article:

Main Street: Northeastern Oregon: The Founding and Development of Small Towns. Barbara Ruth Bailey.

Food Politics: The Regional Conflict. David N. Balaam and Michael J. Carey, eds.

The International Economy and Industrial Development: Trade and Investment in the Third World. R. Ballance, J. Ansari and H. Singer.

Neighborhoods in Urban America. Ronald H. Bayor, ed.

The English Heartland. By Robert Beckinsale and Monica Beckinsale.

Regional Dimensions of Industrial Policy. Michael E. Bell and Paul S. Lande, eds.

Tension Areas of the World. D. Gordon Bennett, ed.

Latin America: an Introductory Survey. B. W. Blouet and O. M. Blouet, eds.

Integration and Division: Geographical Perspectives on the Northern Ireland Problem. Frederick W. Boal and J. Neville H. Douglas, eds.

Energy and Land Use. Robert W. Burchell and David Listokin, eds.

Slopes and Weathering. Michael Clarke and John Small.

Alaska's Rural Development. Peter G. Cornwall and Gerald McBeath, eds.

The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America. Galen Cranz.

World Congress on Land Policy, 1980, Proceedings. Matthew Cullen and Sharon Woolery, eds.

Oregon Divided: A Regional Geography. Samuel N. Dicken and Emily F. Dicken.

Urban Food Marketing and Third World Rural Development. T. Scarlett Epstein.

South Africa: Spatial Frameworks for Development. T. J. D. Fair.

Institutions and Geographical Patterns. Robin Flowerdew, ed.

Industrialization of U.S. Agriculture, An Interpretive Atlas. Howard F. Gregor.

Planning Theory: Prospects for the 1980s. Patsy Healy, Glen McDougall and Michael J. Thomas, eds.

Neighborhood Mobilization: Redevelopment and Response. Jeffrey R. Henig.

The American Urban System: A Geographical Perspective. R. J. Johnston.

Climate, History and the Modern World. Hubert H. Lamb.

Climate and History: Studies in Past Climates and Their Impact on Man. T. M. L. Wigley, M. J. Ingram and G. Farmer.

China: Railways and Agricultural Development, 1875–1935. Ernest P. Liang.

A Desirable Energy Future—A National Perspective. Robert S. Livingston, T. D. Anderson, T. M. Besmann, M. Olszewski, A. M. Perry, and C. D. West.

Topothesia: Essays Presented to T. S. Ó Máille. B. S. Mac Aodha, ed.

Transportation for the Poor: Research in Rural Mobility. Hal S. Maggied.

Land Uses in American Cities. Harold M. Mayer and Charles R. Haves.

Industrial Organisation and Location. Philip McDermott and Michael Taylor.

Human Adaptability: an Introduction to Ecological Anthropology. Emilio F. Moran.

Regional Analysis and the New International Division of Labor. Frank Moulaert and Patricia W. Salinas, eds.

The Nuclear War Atlas. Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada:

Urbanization and Environmental Quality. Isao Orishimo.

The Garden of Eden: The Botanic Garden and the Re-Creation of Paradise. John Prest.

Earthfire, The Eruption of Mount St. Helens. Charles Rosenfeld and Robert Cooke.

Contest for the South China Sea. Marwyn S. Samuels.

The Future of the Wetlands: Assessing Visual-Cultural Values. Richard C. Smardon, ed.

Tucson: the Life and Times of An American City. C. L. Sonnichsen.

The Geography of Multinationals. Michael Taylor and Nigel Thrift, eds.

Impact of Marine Pollution on Society. Virginia Tippie and Dana Kester.

Reviving the Industrial City: the Politics of Urban Renewal in Lyon and Birmingham. Jerry A. Webman.

Andean Reflections: Letters from Carl O. Sauer While on a South American Trip under a Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, 1942. Robert C. West, ed.

Cartographic Drawing with Computers. P. Yoeli.     

Editorial Notes and News

Abstract

Thubten Jigme Norbu. Tibet Is My Country. As told to Heinrich Harrer; translated from the German by Edward Fitzgerald. E. P. Dutton &; Co., 300 Park Avenue South, New York 10, N.Y., 1961. 264 pages with color illustrations. $5.00.

Miriam Schlein. The Sun, The Wind, The Sea and The Rain. Abelard-Schuman Limited, 6 West 57 Street, New York 19, N.Y., 1960. 38 pages with illustrations by Joe Lasker. $2.75.

Robert L. Pendleton with the assistance of Robert C. Kingsbury and others. Thailand: Aspects of Landscape and Life. An American Geographical Society Handbook. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 60 East 42nd Street, New York 17, N.Y., 1962. xv and 321 pages with table of contents, photographs, maps, charts and index. $10.00.

Stuart R. Tomkins. Life in America: Alaska. Revised edition. The Fideler Company, Grand Rapids 2, Michigan, 1961. 128 pages with table of contents, photographs, glossary and index. $2.48.

Harry C. Rubicam, Jr. Men at Work in the Great Plains States. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 200 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N.Y., 1961. 123 pages with table of contents, photographs, notes and index. $3.00.

Winifred Hammond. Rice: Food for a Hungry World. Coward-McCann, Inc., 210 Madison Ave., New York 16, N.Y., 1961. 160 pages with table of contents, references, maps, photographic illustrations and index. $3.50.

John C. and Elsie F. Caldwell. Our Neighbors in the Philippines. The John Day Company, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N.Y., 1961. 45 pages with table of contents, photographs and illustrations by Heidi Ogawa. 12.00.

Sidney H. Gould, editor. Sciences in Communist China. (Pub. No. 68) American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C., 1961. 872 pages with table of contents, tables and author, geographical and subject indexes. $14.00.

Gilbert F. White, editor. Papers on Flood Problems. Research Paper No. 70. Department of Geography, Rosenwald Hall, University of Chicago, Chicago 37, Illinois, 1961. 228 pages with illustrations. $4.00.

D. D. Harris and D. A. M. Lea. A Regional Geography of South Australia. Whitcombe and Tombs Pty., Ltd., 20 Bond Street, Melbourne, C. 1, Australia, 1961. 168 pages with table of contents, maps, diagrams and index. About $2.75.

Richard M. Highsmith, Jr., editor, and Jon M. Leverenz, cartographer. Altas of the Pacific Northwest: Resources and Development, 3rd edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon, 1962. 168 pages with table of contents, photographs, tables, plates and index. $5.00.

Wiliam Lytle Schurz. Brazil, The Infinite Country. E. P. Dutton &; Co., 300 Park Avenue South, New York 10, N.Y., 1961. 316 pages with table of contents, maps, supplementary reading list and index. $6.00.

Umberto Nobile. My Polar Flights. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 200 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N.Y., 1961. 288 pages with table of contents, illustrations, appendix and index. $4.50.

Robert Engler. The Politics of Oil: A Study of Private Power and Democratic Directions. The Macmillan Company, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York 11, N.Y., 1961. viii and 565 pages with table of contents, notes and index. $7.50.

Edwin Thompson Denig. Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboines, Crees, Crows. (Edited and with introduction by John C. Ewers.) University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1961. 217 pages with 12 illustrations, 1 map, editor's bibliography and index. $4.00.

J. P. Cole and F. C. German. A Geography of the USSR: The Background to a Planned Economy. Butterworth Inc., 7235 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington 14, D.C., 1961. x and 290 pages with table of contents, appendixes, notes, glossary, bibliography and index. $8.50.

Jane and Paul Annixter. Horns of Plenty. Holiday House, 8 West 13th St., New York 11, N.Y., 1960. 203 pages. $2.95.

Richard J. Ward and Lawrence A. Hoffman, editors. Readings in Economic Geography from Fortune. Henry Holt and Company, 383 Madison Avenue, New York 17, N.Y., 1960. 130 pages with table of contents, maps and graphs. $1.50

Helen Wolff Vogel and Mary Leonard Caruso. Ocean Harvest: The Future of Oceanography. Alfred A. Knopf, 501 Madison Avenue, New York 22, N.Y., 1961. 14 pages with illustrations by John Kaufman. $3.00.

The New Rand McNally Pocket World Atlas. Cardinal Edition. Pocket Books, Inc., 630 Fifth Avenue, New York 20, N.Y., 1961. 295 pages with table of contents, maps covering 169 pages and index. 75 cents.

Lowdon Wingo, Jr., Transportation and Urban Land. Resources for the Future, Inc., 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington 6, D.C., 1961. 132 pages with table of contents, figures and appendices. $2.00.

Paul Fenimore Cooper. Island of the Lost. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 200 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N.Y., 1961. 256 pages with table of contents, map of King William Island and selected bibliography. $4.00.

Rhoads Murphey. An Introduction to Geography. Rand McNally and Company, P.O. Box 7600, Chicago 80, Illinois, 1961. 699 pages with table of contents, illustrations, chapter-end bibliographies, questions for further study, statistical appendix and index. $7.75.

Jordan A. Hodgkins. Soviet Power: Energy Resources, Production and Potentials. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1961. 190 pages with table of contents, maps, tables and 34 pages of appendix tables. $5.25.

Andrew A. Freeman. The Case for Doctor Cook. Coward-McCann, Inc., 210 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y., 1961. 315 pages with table of contents, sources, notes and acknowledgments and index. $5.75.

Frances H. Kohan and Truda T. Weil. Juan's Adventures in Mexico. Noble and Noble, Publishers, Inc., 67 Irving Place, New York 3, N.Y., 1961. 183 pages with table of contents, chapter study helps, illustrations and suggested reading list. $3.00.     

The Regionalization of Africa: Delineating Africa's Subregions Using Airline Data

Abstract

Current regionalizations of Africa have limitations in that they are attribute-based and regions are delineated according to national boundaries. Taking the world city network approach as starting point, it is possible to use relational data (i.e., information about the relationships between cities) rather than attribute data, and moreover, it becomes possible to ignore state boundaries by delineating the regions based on the location of the interaction structure between cities. This research uses airline data. A network analysis is performed on the number of passengers who fly between cities in Africa. A subregional map is created based on the results.     

A Review of “Managing the Infosphere: Governance,Technology, and Cultural Practice in Motion”

The antiquated and undemocratic rules operating in the United Nations Security Council do not reflect and serve today’s integrated global society, nor does the institution adequately represent the diversity of member states. Despite General Assembly discussions that have lasted a quarter-century, no result has materialized on the expansion issue. The author concludes that regional rivalries, the veto, the onerous Charter amendment process, and the failure to devise a truly representative model are responsible for the lack of progress. A model with eighteen rotating seats, based on population, area, and regional position, and four elected seats deserves consideration as an alternative. Key Words: metageography, political geography, population and area ratings, United Nations Security Council.     

Reviews

Abstract

Around the World Program: Malta, Japan, Australia, Madagascar, Switzerland, and Fiji, Hilary Lambert Hopper, series ed. Fort Pierce, Florida: McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. 1996

Atlas of World Geography, Brett R. Gover and Ann T. Natunewicz, eds. Chicago, Illinois: Rand McNally and Company. 1996 (revised 1999 printing). 176 pp. ISBN 0528177900 (paper).

The New Comparative World Atlas, Charles G. Lees, Jr., ed. Maplewood, New Jersey: Hammond Incorporated; 1998. 96 pp. ISBN 0843771003 (paper).

Political Geography: A New Introduction, Richard Muir, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1997 316 pp. Maps and figures. ISBN 0470237449. $39.95 (paper)

The Southern Black Belt: A National Perspective, Ronald C. Wimberley, Libby V. Morris., Lexington, KY TVA Rural Studies, 1997. 49 pp. Illustrations, maps ISBN 0-9649746-2-2.

The Rural Landscape, John Fraser Hart, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 1998 408 pp., figures, illustrations, graphs, tables, bibliography, index. $35.95 cloth.     

Cities and Urban Land Use in Advanced Placement Human Geography

Abstract

This article examines key topics and concepts in the cities and urban land use section of the Advanced Placement human geography course. Among the topics discussed are definitions of urbanism, the origin and evolution of cities, functional character of contemporary cities, the built environment and social space, and responses to urban growth.     

Up Against the Law: Legal Structuring of Political Opportunities in Neighborhood Opposition to Group Home Siting in Massachusetts

Abstract

Conflicts over siting of group homes for people transitioning out of homelessness or struggling with addiction illustrate the multiscalar dynamics at play between locally-based activism and supra-local laws. In Massachusetts, the state-scale legal environment limits the effectiveness of opposition to group housing; nonetheless, such opposition occurs at the municipal level. Drawing on media accounts, official documents, and interviews with stakeholders in conflicts over group home siting in Worcester, Massachusetts, I investigate the dynamics between neighborhood place claims, the responses of the local state, and the state-wide laws governing group home siting. Examining the legal frameworks relevant to social movement grievances demonstrate that law structures the political opportunities available for protest and local government response.