Join the Center for Critical Urban and Environmental Studies to celebrate the release of two important new books by UCSC faculty exploring power, historical development, and environmental justice in the Bay Area: Lindsey Dillon’s Toxic City and Eric Porter’s A People’s History of SFO (both published by University of California Press). The authors will be in conversation with graduate students from the departments of History and Sociology.

A limited number of both books are available for graduate students – please contact kgalinde@ucsc.edu to receive a copy. Books are available for sale via the UC Press website for 30% off using the code UCPSAVE30.

About the Authors and Books

Toxic City: Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in San Francisco explores the impact of green gentrification in Bayview-Hunters Point, a historically Black neighborhood in San Francisco. Lindsey examines how revitalization efforts often threaten to displace long-time residents who have fought for toxic cleanup and urban redevelopment as a means of reparative justice. She links these struggles to broader issues of environmental racism and the legacy of slavery, arguing for a vision of environmental justice within the context of reparations. Lindsey Dillon is author of Toxic City and a critical human geographer and Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz.

A People’s History of SFO: The Making of the Bay Area and an Airport examines the history of San Francisco International Airport to uncover a rich narrative of development and power in the Bay Area from the eighteenth century to today. Eric highlights SFO’s pivotal role in the region’s evolution as a hub of commerce, innovation, and influence. By examining the airport’s colonial roots and its impact on trade, social dynamics, and environmental change, Porter reveals how individual actions intersect with larger systems of power. The book concludes by confronting the climate crisis and the challenges it poses to SFO and the surrounding community. Eric Porter is Professor of History and History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz, where he also holds appointments in the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Music Departments. His research and teaching interests include Black cultural and intellectual history, US urban and cultural history, and jazz and improvisation studies. Porter is author of A People’s History of SFO: The Making of the Bay Area and an Airport (University of California Press, 2024).

Hosted by the Center for Critical Urban and Environmental Studies (CUES). Co-Sponsored by the departments of History of Consciousness and Sociology, the Division of Social Sciences, the Institute for Social Transformation, and the Science & Justice Research Center.