Darkness and Other Themes in Anti-Light Pollution Advocacy

Abstract

Artificial light at night has dramatically increased with electrification, prompting light pollution to become a phenomenon and topic of discussion, research, and environmental advocacy, especially in the 21st century. Research across academic disciplines on light pollution and its mitigation is very recent and the subject has not yet received much attention in cultural anthropology. Based on semi-structured interviews with anti-light pollution advocates in the US state of Virginia, this thesis explores how and why people go about anti-light pollution work in their communities. It considers themes in their discussions and personal experiences in conversation with literature about light pollution and anti-light pollution advocacy. In the Virginia context, light pollution is made important and legible to advocates through combinations of scientifically mediated knowledge and moral, conservation-influenced perspectives on darkness and responsibility. Those influences shape how they attempt to educate and argue for mitigation to individuals and communities. This project offers a basis for future anthropological research into aspects of anti-light pollution advocacy and develops concepts potentially relevant to other decentralized environmental focuses of community advocacy.