ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE GROUPS: Grass-roots Movement or NGO Networks? Some Policy Implications
Jo Marie Rios,
Jo Marie Rios
Political Science and Public Administration Texas A&M University -Corpus Christi
Jo Marie Rios is an assistant professor of political science und public administration at Texas AhM University-Corpus Christi. Her research interests include environmental politics and policy, mvirunmerital growth management, international trade and the environment, and envirotzmentu f health. She has conducted federalryfunded research on environmental hedh and environmental justice on the Texas-Mexica border mgion. She has published in Public Productivity and Management Rwjiw andhas conbibuted book chapters.
Search for more papers by this authorJo Marie Rios,
Jo Marie Rios
Political Science and Public Administration Texas A&M University -Corpus Christi
Jo Marie Rios is an assistant professor of political science und public administration at Texas AhM University-Corpus Christi. Her research interests include environmental politics and policy, mvirunmerital growth management, international trade and the environment, and envirotzmentu f health. She has conducted federalryfunded research on environmental hedh and environmental justice on the Texas-Mexica border mgion. She has published in Public Productivity and Management Rwjiw andhas conbibuted book chapters.
Search for more papers by this authorABSTRACT
The literature on environmental justice indicates that there is a strong presence of grass-roots activity. This research uses the political process model to investigate whether the environmental justice groups are a social movement or a network of nongovernmental organizations. The results indicate that the majority of these groups do not track the theoretical tenets. There are two groups operating under the penumbra of the environmental justice movement: a social movement and a nongovernmental organization (NGO s) network. There is a modest degree of insurgent action, i.e., blocking the siting of landfills. The NGO's predominate and are the driving force behind this movement through the use of orthodox strategies, formal organizations, ample institutional capacity, lack of protest politics and a strong perception of injustice. These groups do not perceive success in their efforts. This research contributes to the scarcity of literature on the role of minority NGO's in domestic policy-making.
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