Deindustrialization and the Environment

The Deindustrialization and the Environment Initiative will consider a number of issues at the convergence of deindustrialization and the environment. Toxic legacies remain in the aftermath of deindustrialization, with significant impact on bodily health and the surrounding environment. These legacies are uneven, as deindustrialized areas become the focus of redevelopment and greening initiatives, and as working-class communities search for environmental justice. Other themes include the political fault lines of these processes, expressed recently through the “gilets jaunes” protests over the “green” gasoline tax in France and in similar movements elsewhere in North America and Europe. The way that such issues intersect with recent energy transitions will also be explored, as will the notion of “industrial nature,” developed in Germany to describe the unique ecology of brownfield sites.