Search

In the United States, the years following the Great Recession were pivotal to the advancement of sustainability solutions to current climate and inequality crises. Despite marked gains in renewables and energy efficiencies following the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), crises and warnings from the IPCC continue to grow direr. Drawing on James Jasper's players and arenas strategic perspective, we examine how the context for sustainability action has shifted since ARRA. Much of the context appears favorable. External pressure from climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and social unrest intensified the need and resources to act. Market conditions for renewable and efficient energy greatly improved, and public support for government investments increased. Despite the coexistence of many positive trends, a countervailing context exists, including a legacy of inaction, greenwashing, and recalcitrance, which is thwarting the speed in which change is happening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Ehrlich gave us good guidelines when he defined student civic engagement as 'working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of [...]

The literature on the politics of the urban poor in Latin America is largely bifurcated into two opposing schools. One of these interprets the political behavior of the poor as clientelist, and the other finds the poor engaging in insurgent political participation. In this paper I argue that examining the political economy of place offers us a way to understand these political behaviors on a continuum, rather than recreating a false dichotomy. I examine the impact of political economy and urbanization on home ownership as a survival strategy of the poor in Guadalajara, Mexico, as well as addressing the impact of both these factors on political behavior. In so doing, I show why a neighborhood on the outskirts of Guadalajara grew increasingly supportive of opposition politics. I further suggest that examining political economy effects on urban politics offers a way to understand the politics of the urban poor in Latin America in a more nuanced fashion.