Environmental history scholarship overlooked the suburban origins of environmentalism

Evidence

As my subtitle suggests, The Bulldozer in the Countryside is about the relationship between two of the great stories of modern American history, the mass migration to the suburbs and the rise of the environmental movement. Each story has inspired a considerable scholarly literature. Yet scholars so far have not recognized the important connections between the two stories. The construction of tract-house subdivisions after World War II changed the nature of millions of acres of land, and a variety of people soon began to complain about the environmental costs of suburban development. The Bulldozer in the Countryside argues that the elaboration of an environmental critique of homebuilding in the period from 1945 to 1970 played an important role in the emergence of environmentalism. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 13

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Conservationist ideas carried into environmentalism through an urbanized land ethic — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 44; Suburban environmental concern, not just affluence or wilderness, fueled environmentalism — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 43; Environmental history has privileged rural production over metropolitan land use — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 14 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Suburban environmental concern, not just affluence or wilderness, fueled environmentalism #exemplifies (0.90) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 43
• Suburban open-space campaigns shaped environmentalist rhetoric and organizing #exemplifies (0.90) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 541
• Environmental history has privileged rural production over metropolitan land use #expands (0.85) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 14
• Suburban sprawl pulled established conservation groups toward urban environmental concerns #expands (0.85) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 553
• Conservationist ideas carried into environmentalism through an urbanized land ethic #expands (0.82) — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 44