From Lobbying to Lockdowns: Tactical Choices Among Environmental Justice Organizations Open Access
Parris, Christie Lee (2014)
Abstract
What factors affect social movement organizations' tactics? In this project, I examine how factors both internal and external to social movement organizations influence their institutional (i.e., letter-writing, lobbying, lawsuits, and leafleting) and disruptive (i.e., sit-ins, lockdowns, and other civil disobedience) tactical choices. Fusing quantitative and qualitative data, this mixed-methods project addresses two main research questions. First, I ask what structural factors affect organizational-level tactical choices. Second, I examine how activists' personal histories and their perceptions of structural factors influence the processes through which organizational tactical choices are made. To answer these questions, I first collect survey data from several social movement organizations. Interviews with organizational members will serve as the data for this question. I draw upon the environmental justice movement as the subject of this research endeavor. The environmental justice movement emerged in the 1980s in reaction to the presence of environmentally toxic emissions occurring in working-class neighborhoods.
Survey findings indicate that high membership levels of men, as well as the presence of lobbyists, and a liberal citizenry, affect institutional tactics. Factors affecting disruptive tactics include high membership levels of minorities and women, high levels of collaboration with other environmental organizations, and the absence of a paid staff. Finally, the presence of a Democratic governor predicts institutional and disruptive tactics, while a Republican majority in the state legislature predicts disruptive tactics. Interview findings, on the other hand, indicate that environmental justice activists' previous experiences with activism, as well as their perceptions of the community and political context in which they work, play a large role in how their organizations make decisions regarding tactics.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
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Chapter 1: Introduction 1
The Environmental Justice Movement 4
Outline of Chapters 10
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Chapter 2: Theoretical Considerations: Social Movement Organizations,
Environmental Injustice, and Tactical Choices 12
Conceptualization of Social Movements 13
Theoretical Background and Hypotheses: Social Movement Organizations 15
Case Study: Environmental Injustice in Central Appalachia 29
Theoretical Background: Individual Activists 38
- Chapter 3: Data and Methods 41Quantitative Data and Methods 41
Quantitative Data Analysis 53
Qualitative Data and Methods 53
Qualitative Data Analysis 61
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Chapter 4: Quantitative Findings: General Tactical Trends across Environmental
Justice Organizations 64
Descriptive Statistics and Correlations 64
Models 61
Discussion 68
Summary 76
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Chapter 5: Qualitative Findings: Community Input, Political Context, and Tactical Decision-Making Processes 77
Background and Historical Information: Setting the Scenes 80
Activists' Histories 81
Perceptions of Community Context 86
Perceptions of Political Opportunities 98
Tactical Decisions 103
Summary 115
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Chapter 6: Conclusion 116
Main Findings 117
Theoretical Implications 121
Limitations and Future Directions 127
Summary 128
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References 130
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