Douglas Bevington University of California, Santa Cruz
This dissertation project examines the role of grassroots environmental advocacy organizations and federal environmental policy in the United States from 1989 through 2004. The research explores the circumstances under which smaller and more radical social movement organizations could potentially displace larger and more moderate organizations in terms of policy influence. Up until the late 1980s, environmental advocacy at the federal level was dominated by large, well-known mainstream organizations that relied primarily on an "insider" strategy to exert political influence. However by the 1990s, there was a significant influx of new smaller and more radical environmental groups using "outsider" strategies. This project will address two research questions: 1.) How are grassroots biodiversity protection groups able to increase their relative influence on federal policy? 2.) While these grassroots groups shared an "outsider" strategy, different groups took different approaches (including their tactics and organizational forms) in applying this strategy. Which of these approaches were most influential and why? To examine the second question, the project will undertake a comparative analysis of the approaches used in three biodiversity protection campaigns in order to evaluate their relative effectiveness. These three case studies will be examined on the basis of six key variables in social movement dynamics: strategy, tactics, organization, funding, movement culture, and external conditions.
Currently there are few published studies on grassroots biodiversity protection organizations. This study will thus contribute to our understanding of a significant but understudied development within the environmental movement. For environmental sociologists, this project offers insights into the dynamics of recent biodiversity protection campaigns. For social movement researchers, it contributes to the study of relationship between radical and moderate social movement organizations within a social movement. For policy analysts, this study gives increased attention to the role of small social movement organizations in the policy-making process. Findings from this research could potentially of use to a broader community. For research funding foundations, it offers an analysis of the impacts of different funding strategies on social movement effectiveness, and for those concerned with environmental sustainability, it provides an in-depth analysis of the success of grassroots biodiversity campaigns and a model for the implementation of environmental protections more broadly.
