Community Mobilization for Environmental Problems: How a Grassro ...

curbs and sidewalks, giving Hickory Woods a much needed urban-renewal makeover. However, discovered hot spots remain and as of this writing there are no plans for further remediation of vacant or residential lots. Residents feel that this program represents a positive step toward bettering the community; however, the underlying problem still exists. Or does it? Social constructionists would argue that a problem becomes defined as such once a claim has been made, even if it physically existed prior to the claim. By this analysis, the contamination problems at Hickory Woods remain, constructed by frames that are either erased or upheld when they are acknowledged by a mobilized public.

The story of Hickory Woods unfolds in the following pages as one that can be told from different perspectives. It might not have been told at all if claims constructing contamination as a problem had never been voiced, circulated, or acted upon by a host of interested individuals. It is important to discuss the context of Hickory Woods because it speaks to how this issue was constructed and how it influenced individuals’ propensity to mobilize. In the future, other contaminated communities and their stories of mobilization may be addressed through this framework, as well.

The preceding chronology of events provides an overview of the Hickory Woods story, setting the stage for the discussion that follows. The events and situations presented in subsequent chapters are placed in relation to different themes of mobilization, drawing on the time line of events to address frames presented by media, government, scientific, and community interests as evidence of the ways mobilization efforts emerged and fluctuated.