Ecological Identity and Solid Waste Governance

Rowan University, Glassboro NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This project will look at the history of waste management in New Jersey to study individuals' and communities' relationships with their physical environment. The goal of the study is to contribute to a new approach to environmental governance that takes ecological identity into consideration. The project will develop a public, interactive website allowing users to explore the past, present, and future of waste management in New Jersey. This project will yield generalizable findings with applications for researchers, policymakers, and publics across the country that are concerned about the effectiveness of existing approaches to environmental problem-solving. It will provide research experiences for undergraduate students. By being grounded in scholarships about risk, governance, and scale, this project will reconstruct environmental policy and governance around the concept of ecological identity. The project thus focuses on two major questions. First, how do choices regarding waste management reflect differing understandings of ecological identity in New Jersey (and vice versa)? And second, how does articulation of ecological identity transform policymaking processes and aid efforts to protect the natural environment from pollution? By analyzing a range of data to identify connections between ecological identities and waste management strategies in New Jersey the project will articulate how these connections have resulted in both successful and unsuccessful attempts to manage wastes. Documentary and quantitative historical data about waste management in New Jersey will be used along with interviews from key figures in the state's waste management history and community focus groups the project will examine interconnections waste management practices and ecological identity. In addition, data collected from an interactive website and forum will help to develop a systematic means for incorporating ecological identity into environmental policy and governance processes.