Flint Fights Back: Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Flint Water Crisis

Description

An account of the Flint water crisis shows that Flint's struggle for safe and affordable water is part of a broader struggle for democracy. When Flint, Michigan, changed its source of municipal water from Lake Huron to the Flint River, Flint residents were repeatedly assured that the water was of the highest quality. At the switchover ceremony, the mayor and other officials performed a celebratory toast, declaring “Here's to Flint!” and downing glasses of freshly treated water. But as we now know, the water coming out of residents' taps harbored a variety of contaminants, including high levels of lead. In Flint Fights Back, Benjamin Pauli examines the water crisis and the political activism that it inspired, arguing that Flint's struggle for safe and affordable water was part of a broader struggle for democracy. Pauli connects Flint's water activism with the ongoing movement protesting the state of Michigan's policy of replacing elected officials in financially troubled cities like Flint and Detroit with appointed “emergency managers.” Pauli distinguishes the political narrative of the water crisis from the historical and technical narratives, showing that Flint activists' emphasis on democracy helped them to overcome some of the limitations of standard environmental justice frameworks. He discusses the pro-democracy (anti–emergency manager) movement and traces the rise of the “water warriors”; describes the uncompromising activist culture that developed out of the experience of being dismissed and disparaged by officials; and examines the interplay of activism and scientific expertise. Finally, he explores efforts by activists to expand the struggle for water justice and to organize newly mobilized residents into a movement for a radically democratic Flint. Contents Preface and Acknowledgments List of Figures and Tables Timeline Introduction Methodology Themes of the Book The Significance of Flint Chapter Summary 1. Flint First: The Injustice of the Flint Water Crisis Dilemmas of Distributive Justice Justice and Democracy: Beyond Distribution 2. How Did It Happen? Two Tales of the Origins of the Crisis The Technical Narrative of the Crisis The Historical Narrative of the Crisis Toward a Political Narrative of the Crisis 3. Poisoned by Policy: The Political Narrative of the Crisis Act I: The Karegnondi Water Pipeline Act II: The Break with Detroit and Switch to the River Act III: Prolonging the Crisis Epilogue 4. The Pro-Democracy Struggle in Michigan and the Prehistory of the Water Movement in Flint Repealing PA 4 The Constitutional Challenge Local Resistance to Emergency Management Water and Democracy 5. The Rise of the Water Warriors: Transforming Personal Troubles into Political Action The Phenomenology of the Water Crisis The Construction of Victimhood Epistemic Injustice and Recognition From Troubles to Issues to Collective Action 6. Demanding the Impossible: Deliberation and Activism in the Battle over the River The Dead End of Deliberation Beyond Deliberation: The Coalition for Clean Water Lead in the Water Realizing the Impossible 7. The Water Is (Not) Safe: Expertise, Citizen Science, and the Science Wars Bob Bowcock and the Appeal to Expertise Marc Edwards, “Citizen Science,” and the Limits of Lead Water Defense and the Boundaries of Science The Battle over Bacteria Accountability in a “Post-truth World” The Fight Is (Not) Over 8. From Poisoned People to People Power: Fighting for Justice, Expanding Democracy The Feds Will Not Save Us: The Need for a Grassroots Crisis Response Grasping for Unity The Birth of Flint Rising Community Organizing and Activism The Dilemmas of Professionalism: Flint Rising 2.0 The Elusive Dream of (Water) Democracy The Way Forward Conclusion Notes Preface and Acknowledgments Timeline Introduction 1. Flint First 2. How Did It Happen? 3. Poisoned by Policy 4. The Pro-Democracy Struggle in Michigan and the Prehistory of the Water Movement in Flint 5. The Rise of the Water Warriors 6. Demanding the Impossible 7. The Water Is (Not) Safe 8. From Poisoned People to People Power Conclusion Selected Bibliography Index