Lindsay Shade

Lindsay Shade serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, specializing in environmental sociology and political ecology with regional focus on Appalachia and Latin America.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Geography, University of Kentucky, 2017

Research Focus: Shade critically examines land access bureaucracies within extractive economies through decolonial and queer theoretical lenses. Their work documents how property systems perpetuate social inequalities while collaborating with grassroots movements in southern Appalachia and northern Ecuador to advance regenerative economic transitions and environmental justice.

Publication Trends: Recent scholarship (2015-2024) reveals consistent analysis of land ownership dynamics across rural U.S. and Ecuadorian contexts. Using geospatial methods and critical legal theory, Shade investigates just transition frameworks, criminalization of environmental resistance, and post-extractive community development, emphasizing community-led solutions in sacrifice zones.

Collaborative Practice: Shade co-produces knowledge through the Appalachian Land Study Collective and partnerships with environmental justice organizations, prioritizing popular education methodologies to address land-based inequities in resource-impacted communities.