Publisher Description

Winner, Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award, presented by the Environment & Technology section of the American Sociological Association
How the elite ski resort reshaped the socio-economic and demographic landscape in pursuit of profit and pleasure
Environmentalism usually calls to mind images of peace and serenity, a oneness with nature, and a shared sense of responsibility. But one town in Colorado, under the guise of environmental protection, passed a resolution limiting immigration, bolstering the privilege of the wealthy and scapegoating Latin American newcomers for the area's current and future ecological problems. This might have escaped attention save for the fact that this wasn't some rinky-dink backwater. It was Aspen, Colorado, playground of the rich and famous and the West's most elite ski town.
Tracking the lives of immigrant laborers through several years of exhaustive fieldwork and archival digging, The Slums of Aspen tells a story that brings together some of the most pressing social problems of the day: environmental crises, immigration, and social inequality. Park and Pellow demonstrate how these issues are intertwined in the everyday experiences of people who work and live in this wealthy tourist community.
Offering a new understanding of a little known class of the super-elite, of low-wage immigrants (mostly from Latin America) who have become the foundation for service and leisure in this famous resort, and of the recent history of the ski industry, Park and Pellow expose the ways in which Colorado boosters have reshaped the landscape and altered ecosystems in pursuit of profit and pleasure. Of even greater urgency, they frame how environmental degradation and immigration reform have become inextricably linked in many regions of the American West, a dynamic that interferes with the efforts of valorous environmental causes, often turning away from conservation and toward insidious racial privilege.

Notes

Reveals the dark underside of environmental privilege

Author Biography

Lisa Sun-Hee Park (Author)
Lisa Sun-Hee Park is Professor and Chair of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Entitled to Nothing: The Struggle for Immigrant Health Care in the Age of Welfare Reform as well as co-author of The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy and The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America's Eden.
David Pellow (Author)
David N. Pellow is the Dehlsen Chair of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His teaching and research focus on environmental and ecological justice in the U.S. and globally.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Environmental Privilege in the Rocky Mountains 1 The Logic of Aspen 2 The Ultimate Elite Retreat 3 Living in Someone Else's Paradise 4 Nativism and the Environmental Movement 5 Advocacy and Social Justice Workers Conclusion: Dreams of Privilege/Visions of Justice Notes on Research Methods Notes References Index About the Authors

Review

"A clear description of a troubling problem and an important contribution to debates on immigration policy." Kirkus "As the limits to growth discourse gains currency, Park and Pellow's groundbreaking book is a must-read. Tracing the nativism that has bedeviled the environmental movement for decades, they tell the fascinating story of eco-conscious, upscale Aspen, which was gripped by anti-immigrant fervor in the name of 'saving the planet.' A great addition for courses on environment, race, class, social activism and contemporary problems." Juliet Schor, Boston College, and author of The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need "Two barrels of leftist buckshot, aimed at America's ruling class." -Ted Conover, author of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and Whiteout: Lost in Aspen "A brilliant, darkly funny expose of Aspen, the ruling classes' green utopia, and the invisible, scorned immigrant labor that makes it all possible." Mike Davis, author of Magical Urbanism and No One is Illegal "As Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow make clear, we can't tackle today's environmental problems without simultaneously solving social ones. The Slums of Aspen is a must read for all of us who want not just a green and healthy economy, but also a fair and just one."-Annie Leonard, Author and Host, The Story of Stuff

Promotional

Reveals the dark underside of environmental privilege

Long Description

Winner, Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award, presented by the Environment & Technology section of the American Sociological Association Environmentalism usually calls to mind images of peace and serenity, a oneness with nature, and a shared sense of responsibility. But one town in Colorado, under the guise of environmental protection, passed a resolution limiting immigration, bolstering the privilege of the wealthy and scapegoating Latin American newcomers for the area's current and future ecological problems. This might have escaped attention save for the fact that this wasn't some rinky-dink backwater. It was Aspen, Colorado, playground of the rich and famous and the West's most elite ski town. Tracking the lives of immigrant laborers through several years of exhaustive fieldwork and archival digging, The Slums of Aspen tells a story that brings together some of the most pressing social problems of the day: environmental crises, immigration, and social inequality. Park and Pellow demonstrate how these issues are intertwined in the everyday experiences of people who work and live in this wealthy tourist community. Offering a new understanding of a little known class of the super-elite, of low-wage immigrants (mostly from Latin America) who have become the foundation for service and leisure in this famous resort, and of the recent history of the ski industry, Park and Pellow expose the ways in which Colorado boosters have reshaped the landscape and altered ecosystems in pursuit of profit and pleasure. Of even greater urgency, they frame how environmental degradation and immigration reform have become inextricably linked in many regions of the American West, a dynamic that interferes with the efforts of valorous environmental causes, often turning away from conservation and toward insidious racial privilege.

Review Quote

"Two barrels of leftist buckshot, aimed at America's ruling class." -Ted Conover,author of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and Whiteout: Lost in Aspen

Promotional "Headline"

Reveals the dark underside of environmental privilege

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