GROUNDING HIERARCHIES OF ACCEPTANCE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DISABILITY IN NIMBY CONFLICTS

The NIMBY syndrome remains a complex and costly social problem. Research into public attitudes toward disability and difference using “hierarchies of acceptance” has provided considerable insight into the underlying causes of NIMBY reactions. However, hierarchy of acceptance studies have several limitations, most notably their reliance on quantitative survey research to gauge respondent reactions to disabled persons. In this paper, I use data from an in-depth case study in Southern California to explore public reactions to disability and difference as they are expressed “in place.” Case study data support some findings from existing research, but they also provide additional insights. These concern the dynamic and contested nature of public perceptions, the way in which attitudes are mediated by place, the conflation of different disabilities, and the intersection of disability with other dimensions of difference. A dynamic, place-based hierarchy of acceptance is constructed to represent public attitudes expressed during the conflict. Together, insights from the case study help to demonstrate the myriad factors that shape public attitudes toward disabilities within a particular sociospatial context. [Key words: disability, social construction, NIMBY, public attitudes, locational conflict.]