Slow Harms and Citizen Action

Based on in-depth research and rigorous comparison, this book reveals policy processes that are often as slow and unseen as the harms they seek to tackle. This fascinating study provides important conceptual tools for understanding how networks and social capital build commitments and connections, and how those, in turn, help address pervasive environmental justice problems in South American cities. * Rebecca Neaera Abers, University of Brasilia * Slow Harms and Citizen Action masterfully unravels the complex dynamics of environmental policy reform in South America. Combining ethnography and process tracing, Herrera brilliantly demonstrates the power of grassroots activism in sparking transformative change. This book is an essential read for scholars, policymakers, and environmental advocates alike, offering invaluable insights into the challenges and opportunities for crafting effective environmental policies in Global South cities. A timely work that will shape our understanding of environmental justice for years to come. * Isabella Alcañiz, University of Maryland * This is an original and important book that draws attention to the 'slow harms' of pollution endured by urban populations around the world, especially those already disadvantaged by their class, race, or ethnicity. Herrera brings a compelling framework that emphasizes how bridging activists can help communities understand these harms that otherwise often go unrecognized and relates their chances of success to longer histories of political violence. A must read for anyone interested in the complex politics of environmental outcomes in Latin America and beyond. * Kathryn Hochstetler, London School of Economics and Political Science * In this pathbreaking study of river pollution on the poor fringes of Bogot´a, Lima, and Buenos Aires, Herrera shows how these invisible and creeping harms and the marginalization of residents act as obstacles to grassroots mobilization, and how broader human rights activist networks shape institutional responses when these obstacles are overcome. Drawing novel links between histories of political violence and contemporary environmental mobilization, Slow Harms and Citizen Action illuminates divergent trajectories of contemporary urban politics in Latin America. * Hillel Soifer, Temple University *