Organizing Under Austerity: How Residents’ Concerns Became the Flint Water Crisis

Abstract

What might it take for politically marginalized residents to challenge cuts in public spending that threaten to harm their health and wellbeing? Specifically, how did residents of Flint, Michigan contribute to the decision of an austerity regime, which was not accountable to them, to spend millions to switch to a safe water source? Relying on evidence from key interviews and newspaper accounts, we examine the influence and limitations of residents and grassroots groups during the 18-month period between April 2014 and October 2015 when the city drew its water from the Flint River. We find that citizen complaints alone were not sufficiently able to convince city officials or national media of widespread illness caused by the water. However, their efforts resulted in partnerships with researchers whose evidence bolstered their claims, thus inspiring a large contribution from a local foundation to support the switch to a clean water source. Thus, before the crisis gained national media attention, and despite significant constraints, residents’ sustained organization—coupled with scientific evidence that credentialed local claims—motivated the return to the Detroit water system. The Flint case suggests that residents seeking redress under severe austerity conditions may require partnerships with external scientific elites.

Equity in sustainable development: Community responses to environmental gentrification

“…Flint residents, the majority of whom are Black and living within one of the most impoverished metropolitan areas in the USA, became sick as a result of lead contamination and bacteria in their drinking water. Yet, they did not enjoy the same degree of protection, nor political recourse, as other communities and, as a result, many became sick and the lead content in children’s blood spiked (Agyeman, Schlosberg, Craven, & Matthews, 2016; Krings, Kornberg, & Lane, 2019; Krings, Kornberg, & Lee, 2019). Despite their politically and socially marginalized status, residents were able to organize grassroots groups that partnered with academic researchers whose evidence bolstered their claims, thus inspiring national media attention, philanthropic foundation support and, ultimately, the decision to change back to a safer, but more expensive source of water.…”

Gender and Presence of Children: Examining Media Uses, Informational Needs, and Source Preferences during the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis

“…Simply put, perceived source credibility is a key determinant in source evaluation for both legacy mass media and social media (Van Zoonen & van der Meer, 2015). In the context of the Flint water crisis, credibility of governmental sources may have been diminished due to slow response time and residents feeling as though their concerns about the water were ignored by governmental officials (Cuthbertson et al, 2016;Krings et al, 2019). Due to Flint's unique crisis context and information environment, the perceived credibility of information forms (e.g., mass media, social media) and informational sources may have influenced residents to utilize new and/or different media or informational sources (e.g., Austin et al, 2012).…”

“…Simultaneously, Flint experienced an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that was associated with the water (Masten et al, 2016). Although concerns about the water were expressed by Flint residents and independent researchers at the onset of the water switch, government officials were extremely slow to respond and some were accused of withholding information from the public (CNN, 2016;Gable & Buehler, 2017;Krings et al, 2019).…”

“…Genesee County and the State of Michigan followed suit with declarations of emergency in January 2016 (City of Flint, n.d.). However, by this time, the public had lost trust in government officials due to their slow response and overassurance about the water quality (CNN, 2016;Cuthbertson et al, 2016;Krings et al, 2019). The Flint Water Advisory Task Force (2016) concluded that, "The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice, " (n.p.).…”

Integrating youth participation and ecosocial work: New possibilities to advance environmental and social justice

“…These inequities -known as environmental injustice -reflect structural racism embedded in land use practices that disproportionately expose marginalized groups to toxins in their homes, schools and neighborhoods; limited enforcement of environmental and public health regulations; and land use decision-making processes that exclude vulnerable groups (Bullard, 1996;Cole & Foster, 2001). Among people disadvantaged by systemic racism and classism, concerns about environmental health impacts also are at risk of being discredited by media and public officials (Krings, Kornberg, & Lane, 2018).…”