Warren County, NC, and the Emergence of the Environmental Justice Movement: Unlikely Coalitions and Shared Meanings in Local Collective Action

Abstract

Warren County, North Carolina, is heralded as a watershed event of contemporary environmentalism, as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement. This article identifies four requirements for the emergence of a social movement (cultural frames, social networks, disruptive action, and political opportunities) and argues that all four were met in the Warren County situation. The article then illustrates how the master frame of environmental justice emerged out of the specific collective action in Warren County. Lastly, the article shows how criteria for waste management decisions have shifted as a result and how these decision processes have become more participatory.