Not in My Backyard: How Citizen Activists Nationalized Local Politics in the Fight to Save Green Springs...

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Brian Balogh

Not in My Backyard

How Citizen Activists Nationalized Local Politics in the Fight to Save Green Springs

Brian Balogh

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Hardback

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English

Yale University Press
27 February 2024

Regional government; Human rights; Civil rights & citizenship; Political activism

How a woman-led citizens’ group beat a Southern political machine by enlisting federal bureaucrats and judges to protect their neighborhood from unchecked economic development

This social history of local political activism tells the story of the decades-long fight to save Green Springs, Virginia, illuminating the economic tradeoffs of protecting the environment, the origins of NIMBYism, the changing nature of local control, and the surprising power of history to advance public policy.

Rae Ely faced long odds when she launched a campaign in 1970 to stop a prison, then a strip mine, in Green Springs. The local political machine supported both projects, promising jobs for impoverished Louisa County, Virginia. But Ely and her allies prevailed by repurposing the same tactics used by the Civil Rights movement—the appeal to federal agencies and courts to circumvent local control—and by using new historical interpretations to create the first rural National Historic Landmark District.

The Green Springs protesters fought to preserve the historic character of their neighborhood and the surrounding environment in a quest that epitomized the conflict in late twentieth-century America between unbridled economic development for all and protecting the quality of life for an economically privileged few. Ely’s tactics are now used by neighborhood groups across the nation, even if they have been applied in ways she never intended: to resist any form of development.

By: Brian Balogh
Imprint: Yale University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780300253788
ISBN 10: 0300253788
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 27 February 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Brian Balogh is professor of history emeritus at the University of Virginia. He was cohost of the popular public radio show, then podcast, Backstory with the American History Guys. He lives in Cleveland Heights, OH.

Reviews for Not in My Backyard: How Citizen Activists Nationalized Local Politics in the Fight to Save Green Springs

“Balogh’s gripping tale of one woman’s fight against the odds to preserve her historic community isn’t just an invaluable contribution to the history of land use—it’s also a terrific read.”—Yoni Appelbaum, deputy editor, The Atlantic “Through a close and engaging look at a group of tireless citizen activists, this important book counters the dismissive portrayals of NIMBYism and instead reveals how it has the potential to serve the public good and force federal action on the environment. In doing so, Brian Balogh offers powerful lessons for scholars and grassroots activists alike.”—Lily Geismer, author of Left Behind: The Democrats’ Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality “A masterpiece of historical storytelling. Writing in the rich veins of Faulkner, Balogh shows that everything we need to know about postwar United States history can be observed in one place (Louisa County, VA), and in the fantastic life and relentless organizing of one irreplaceable and magnetic character, Rae Ely. This is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about feminism, environmentalism, the tensions between local and federal power, carceral policies, and the nitty-gritty of getting things done.”—Bryant Simon, author of The Hamlet Fire