Building a New Boston or Faces of Environmental Racism

Building a New Boston: Politics and Urban Renewal, 1950-1970

Author: Thomas H OConnor

Between 1950 and 1970, an unusual alliance of government and business interacting with neighborhood groups created impressive physical revitalization in Boston. A city characterized at the end of World War II by a rich history, an undistinguished skyline, urban decay, and no discernible plan for its future, Boston by the end of the 1970s featured a striking silhouette of old and new buildings symbolizing changes that transformed the city into one of America's five most vital and attractive urban centers. But the rejuvenation also produced unintended, frequently contradictory, and sometimes tragic consequences. The multicultural West End was destroyed and many of its residents were displaced. The attraction of new capital, new business, and tourists to the revitalized city wrought damaging social and economic vibrations that continue to this day. This book provides the first comprehensive political history of Boston's renewal and its aftermath. It is a tale principally of the determination of two mayors, John B. Hynes and John F. Collins, and those inside government and the business community who worked with them. It is also the story of community resistance, particularly in the immigrant West End and the predominantly black South End, by those who perceived the original plans as harmful to their communities.

Table of Contents:

	List of Illustrations
	Introduction
1	"A Hopeless Backwater"	3
2	Forming a New Coalition	37
3	Visions and Designs	66
4	"Where's Boston?"	89
5	Trial and Error	113
6	A New Beginning	150
7	"The Stars Were Right"	182
8	Progress and Populism	210
9	Changing Times	249
	Conclusion	284
	Notes	301
	Bibliography	331
	Index	335

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Faces of Environmental Racism: Confronting Issues of Global Justice

Author: Laura Westra

Racial minorities in the United States are disproportionately exposed to toxic wastes and other environmental hazards, and cleanup efforts in their communities are slower and less thorough than efforts elsewhere. Internationally, wealthy countries of the North increasingly ship hazardous wastes to poorer countries of the South, resulting in such tragedies as the disaster at Bhopal. Through case studies that highlight the type of information that is seldom reported in the news, "Faces of Environmental Racism" exposes the type and magnitude of environmental racism, both domestic and international. The essays explore the justice of current environmental practices, asking such questions as whether cost-benefit analysis is an appropriate analytic technique and whether there are alternate routes to sustainable development in the South.

Author Biography: Laura Westra is professor emerita at Windsor University in Windsor, Canada. Bill Lawson is professor of philosophy at Michigan State University.