Homelessness, AIDS, and Stigmatization: The NIMBY Syndrome in the United States at the End of the Twentieth Century argues that it is the rise in community opposition across race, class, and region that should be considered in terms of the changing social construction of stigma, i.e. the ways in which people define those who are acceptable and those who are not.

Three particular themes underlie the arguments made throughout this book: (a) the importance of economic, welfare state, and demographic restructuring in community response to homelessness and HIV/AIDS; (b) the significance of the social and spatial construction of stigma for ongoing and future community response; and (c) the role of institutions such as municipal governments and the courts in defining and adjudicating local facility siting disputes. To explore these themes the author uses both quantitative and qualitative data and methods.

Oxford Geographical and Environmental Studies aims to publish the best original research studies in the related fields of geography and environmental studies. Its scope is international, presenting a broad and diverse range of scholarly approaches from across the world.

Series Editors: Gordon Clark, Andrew Goudie, and Ceri Peach