Environment, Inc: From Grassroots to Beltway
- ISBN-10
- 0700613676
- ISBN-13
- 9780700613670
- Category
- Science / Environmental Science
- Pages
- 194
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2005
- Publisher
- University Press of Kansas
- Author
- Christopher John Bosso
Description
We expect Birkenstocks. We find wing-tips.
Professional organizations that advocate on behalf of environmental issues have become a permanent part of the American political landscape. From the Sierra Club to the Rainforest Action Network, these groups represent more than eleven million members and claim more than $3.5 billion in assets. Sometimes lambasted for non-stop fund-raising, top-heavy bureaucracies, or agendas out of touch with local concerns, they remain staunch advocates for Mother Nature in the marble halls of Washington. But what happens to a grassroots movement when it goes mainstream?
In this insightful book, Christopher Bosso considers how organizations that once contested the Establishment have become an establishment of their own. Environment, Inc. is the only book to examine the evolution of a national advocacy community over the span of a century. Bosso describes the transformation of an inchoate 1960s movement into fixtures of contemporary politics to show how this transformation was necessary for the success of environmental policy. Presenting some thirty organizations that lie at the core of the national environmental advocacy community—today's environmental establishment—he examines these groups both individually and collectively to clarify their origins, organizational evolution, and methods of operation. He looks at annual reports and tax forms to assess their financial health and organizational maintenance, and he describes how people whose heart is in the great outdoors have been forced to become more businesslike in order to survive in a political context that places a premium on presence.
Bosso seeks to learn why organizations born in social movements become larger, more professional, and more bureaucratic over time. He tells how warhorses like the Sierra Club and National Audubon Society have survived in the face of an influx of competitors, and why so relatively few new national organizations have appeared in recent years. In examining the success of some and the demise of others, he sheds light on how organizations adapt to the shifting winds of politics and economics.
As Bosso observes, the very normalcy of today's environmental community speaks volumes about the contours of American democracy. He shows that these groups, for all their flaws, remain the most consistent promoters of environmental values in a political system based on organized advocacy. His cogent analysis offers new insights into the nature of interest group politics in the United States.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Emerging Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management V
By Daniel William Tedder, American Chemical Society. Division of Industrial and Engineering ChemistryReimann , G. A .; Grandy , J. D .; Eddy , T. L .; Anderson , G. L. In Nuclear and Hazardous Waste Management Spectrum '92 ( Proc . ) ; American Nuclear Society , Inc. , La Grange Park , IL , 1992 ; Vol . 2 , pp . 1083-1088 . 3 .
-
Ecosystem Management in the United States: An Assessment of Current Experience
By Steven Lewis YaffeeIn 1991 , the Spence - Moriarty property ( 37,000 acres adjacent tə the Inberg - Roy ) was purchased . Now administering enough winter habitat , WGFD removed the thirteen miles of elk fence . WGFD sets herd - unit objectives based on ...
-
Emerging Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management IV
By Daniel William TedderA stock solution of PCP was prepared at an elevated pH of 11 with 1 N NaOH to increase the solubility of PCP in the aqueous phase . For the partial chemical oxidation pretreatment by Fenton's Reagent , the ferrous sulfate solution ...
-
Encyclopedia of Human Ecology: A-H
By Julia R. MillerAmy Griffin Monica Mouton Sanders M.Angela Casady Jennifer Smith Burden Tom Luster See also: Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention; Prenatal Decision Making by Adolescents; Sexual Abstinence References and Further Reading Child Trends.
-
Environment: The Science Behind the Stories
By Scott R. Brennan, Jay WithgottKEY BENEFIT: The first edition of Environment: The Science behind the Stories made the biggest splash of any new entry in environmental science over the past thirty years.
-
A New Green Order?: The World Bank and the Politics of the Global Environment Facility
By Zoe YoungJackson , P.M. , The Political Economy of Bureaucracy , 1981 , Philip Allan , Oxford . Jacobs , Michael , Environment , Sustainable Development and the Politics of the Future , 1991 , Pluto Press , London . Jordan , Andrew , ' Financing ...
-
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE FROM CHEMICALS
By W. Brock Neely, Gary E. BlauJohanson , R. L. , Imhoff , J. C. , Davis , H. H. , Jr. , Kittle , J. L. , Jr. , and Donigian , A. S. , Jr. , User's Manual for Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN ( HSPF ) . Release No. 8 , EPA - 600 / 3-84-066 , U.S. Environmental ...
-
Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica
By Tom GriffithsA1 commented that Casey is traditionally considered to have lower morale than any other station , because of the tunnel design of the old station ( now superseded and removed ) and because it is the least scenic of the Australian ...
-
Encyclopedia of Environmental Control Technology: Volume 6: Pollution Reduction and Containment Control
By Paul CheremisinoffChapters cover the practical application of pollution and contaminant control technology
-
Tourism in the Polar Regions: The Sustainability Challenge
By United Nations Environment Programme, John Snyder, International Ecotourism SocietyThe Sustainability Challenge John Snyder, United Nations Environment Programme, International Ecotourism Society. Foreword The rapid growth of tourism over recent decades presents both challenges and opportunities .