Violent and Verdant by Kangjae Jerry Lee

Violent and Verdant by Kangjae Jerry Lee

Winner of the 2026 Leisure Studies Association's Outstanding Book Prize

Public parks in the U.S. are one of the most contentious and paradoxical places. Many Americans believe public parks are encapsulations of nature, promoters of health, and embodiments of egalitarianism and democracy, providing a wide range of health, economic, cultural, and social benefits to users. Yet, the historical reality of American public parks has been riddled with greed, hypocrisy, prejudice, and ulterior motives of the rich and powerful. Numerous people have been displaced, exploited, and even killed because of public parks.

Drawing from multiple disciplines such as sociology, history, geography, urban planning, environmental science, and leisure studies, Violent and Verdant: Systemic Injustice in Public Parks in the U.S. takes a two- pronged approach to provide critical and fresh insights on public parks in the U.S. It looks back, illuminating how parks have been sites of enduring violence and oppression. But it also looks forward, offering practical strategies and philosophical reimaginations of parks’ conception, development, and management.

"America’s public parks are beloved and widely regarded as an indisputable goodNational parks have even been called ‘America’s best idea.’ But is this the end of the story? In Violent and Verdant, KangJae Lee forcefully argues the case against such unquestioning reverence. Presenting both deeper histories and recent accounts of community and urban parks, state parks, and national parks, he effectively exposes the displacement, discrimination, and disenfranchisement that has often accompanied park creation and management. To resist such injustice, Lee provides insights into the strategies elites employ to direct the benefits of public parks to themselves and recommends counterstrategies to oppose them. If you are involved with America’s public parks, you do not want to miss Violent and Verdant."
Terence G. Young, Professor Emeritus of Geography and Anthropology, California Polytechnic University, Pomona"With the publication of Violent and Verdant, Professor Lee positions himself as one of the most important critical voices on the social construction and contestation of parks in America. His book is singular in applying an unflinching social justice perspective to the full scale of the park movement— from city and state parks to our heavily visited and often romanticized national parks. While Lee persuasively documents the under- discussed role of capitalism, oppression, elitism, and violence in the origin and development of parks, he also writes the badly needed story of marginalized groups resisting this injustice. Lee’s conclusions are brilliantly sobering: if we want parks to be truly democratic spaces in the future, we must reform structural inequalities, not just in parks but within the wider society. Violence and Verdant should be essential reading for researchers and teachers in various fields, park managers and advocates, and many park visitors. Lee’s monograph is a welcomed challenge to the political times in which we find ourselves as educational and public discussions of America’s white supremacist foundations are discouraged, if not banned outright."
Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee"In this groundbreaking book, social scientist KangJae Lee offers a compelling analysis of the complex history of U.S. public parks, showing how these highly valued public spaces, often seen as symbols of democracy and egalitarianism, have been sites of systemic racial injustice. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, he documents well how public parks have historically reinforced the racial hierarchy, benefiting whites at the expense of communities of color. He challenges us to rethink the societal role of public parks and seek a more just and inclusive future for them. His scholarship is timely and highly original, providing critical insights into the intersections of environmental justice with systemic racism. A must- read book for all interested in understanding the social justice dynamics of U.S. public spaces."
Joe R. Feagin, Distinguished Professor (emeritus), Texas A&M University, and author of The White Racial Frame (2nd edn, Routledge, 2020)

KangJae Jerry Lee is Associate Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, & Tourism at the University of Utah. He is an interdisciplinary researcher on social and environmental justice, race and ethnicity, outdoor recreation, and subjective wellbeing. His research and teaching have been recognized by several awards, including the Opal Mann Green Engagement and Scholarship Award from North Carolina State University, the Best Research Paper Award from the Academy of Leisure Sciences, the Golden Apple Award in Excellent Teaching and Mentorship at the University of Missouri.