Abstract

This paper examines an environmental justice case in the Ironbound neighbourhood of Newark, New Jersey, United States, which emerged as a key site in the environmental justice movement during the 1980s as residents organized to oppose a regional garbage incinerator and various detrimental facilities. This paper argues that environmental injustice conditions in the Ironbound are deeply rooted in garbage governmentalities - the understandings, processes, and practices historically promoted by the State under nuisance, sanitation, and environmental planning rationalities, which are embodied and enacted by the population in everyday life. Empirical material comes from government and community historical documents, and focus groups with residents of the Ironbound neighbourhood and the high-income township of Montclair, which is served by the same incinerator.