Evolution of a Movement

Four Decades of California Environmental Justice Activism
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-0-520-37698-4
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 302 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 230 mm x 152 mm, Gewicht: 418 g

Despite living and working in California, one of the county's most environmentally progressive states, environmental justice activists have spent decades fighting for clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and safe, healthy communities. Evolution of a Movement tells their story—from the often-raucous protests of the 1980s and 1990s to activists' growing presence inside the halls of the state capitol in the 2000s and 2010s. Tracy E. Perkins traces how shifting political contexts combined with activists' own efforts to institutionalize their work within nonprofits and state structures. By revealing these struggles and transformations, Perkins offers a new lens for understanding environmental justice activism in California.

Drawing on case studies and 125 interviews with activists from Sacramento to the California-Mexico border, Perkins explores the successes and failures of the environmental justice movement in California. She shows why some activists have moved away from the disruptive "outsider" political tactics common in the movement's early days and embraced traditional political channels of policy advocacy, electoral politics, and working from within the state's political system to enact change. Although some see these changes as a sign of the growing sophistication of the environmental justice movement, others point to the potential of such changes to blunt grassroots power. At a time when environmental justice scholars and activists face pressing questions about the best route for effecting meaningful change, this book provides insight into the strengths and limitations of social movement institutionalization.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Perkins, Tracy E.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Interessengruppen, Lobbyismus und Protestbewegungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltschutz, Umwelterhaltung
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Umweltsoziologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften, Biologie: Sachbuch, Naturführer
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Umweltrecht Umweltrecht allg., Technikrecht, Immissionsschutzrecht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Environmental Justice Activism
Then and Now

1. Emergence of the Disruptive Environmental Justice Movement
2. The Institutionalization of the Environmental Justice Movement
3. Explaining the Changes in Environmental Justice Activism
4. Kettleman City: Case Study of Community Activism in Changing Times
5. California Climate Change Bill AB 32: Case Study of Policy Advocacy

Conclusion: Dilemmas of Contemporary Environmental Justice Activism

Appendix: Arguments for and against the Environmental
Justice Lawsuit Brought against the California Air
Resources Board
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Tracy E. Perkins is Assistant Professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University.