From the Inside Out: The Fight for Environmental Justice within Government Agencies

Description

Many state and federal environmental agencies have put in place programs, policies, and practices to redress environmental injustices, and yet these efforts fall short of meeting the principles that environmental justice activists have fought for. In From the Inside Out, Jill Lindsey Harrison offers an account of the bureaucratic culture that hinders regulatory agencies' attempts to reduce environmental injustices. It is now widely accepted that America's poorest communities, communities of color, and Native American communities suffer disproportionate harm from environmental hazards, with higher exposure to pollution and higher incidence of lead poisoning, cancer, asthma, and other diseases linked to environmental ills. And yet, Harrison reports, some regulatory staff view these problems as beyond their agencies' area of concern, requiring too many resources, or see neutrality as demanding “color-blind” administration. Drawing on more than 160 interviews (with interviewees including 89 current or former agency staff members and more than 50 environmental justice activists and others who interact with regulatory agencies) and more than 50 hours of participant observation of agency meetings (both open- and closed-door), Harrison offers a unique account of how bureaucrats resist, undermine, and disparage environmental justice reform—and how environmental justice reformers within the agencies fight back by trying to change regulatory practice and culture from the inside out. Harrison argues that equity, not just aggregated overall improvement, should be a metric for evaluating environmental regulation. Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1: Introduction Environmentalism and the Environmental Justice Movement Scope and Roots of Environmental Inequalities Key Tenets of Environmental Justice Government Agencies’ Efforts to Institutionalize Environmental Justice Principles Other Studies of EJ Policy Implementation Organization Theory: Institutional Logics and Resistance to Change This Book’s Argument and Theoretical Contributions Research Approach and Methods Key Terms The Scope of This Book Organization of This Book 2: Government Agencies’ Environmental Justice Efforts: Review and Critical Assessment Agencies’ Key EJ Efforts to Date Critically Assessing Agencies’ EJ Efforts Conclusion 3: “It Is Out of Our Hands”: The Standard Narrative Introduction Resources Regulatory Authority: Laws, Executive Orders, Regulations, and Policies Analytical Tools Other External Factors Shaping Agencies’ EJ Efforts Conclusion 4: “We Do Ecology, Not Sociology”: Staff Narratives That Undermine EJ Cultural Resistance to Environmental Justice Casting EJ as Conflicting with the Agency’s Identity Prejudiced Disparagement Dismissing Concerns about Environmental Inequalities “We Already Do EJ” “Our Hands Are Tied”: The Standard Narrative as Resistance to EJ Reforms Body Language Staff Strategies for Managing Colleagues’ Narratives That Undermine EJ Conclusion 5: Other Ways Bureaucrats Undermine Proposed EJ Reforms Introduction Ignoring Recommended EJ Reforms Checking the Box: Doing EJ Procedures Only Superficially Management Not Holding Staff Accountable for Implementing EJ Reforms Stonewalling and Excluding EJ Staff from Pertinent Communication Monitoring, Disciplining, and Bullying EJ Staff Staff Strategies for Supporting Environmental Justice in This Context Conclusion 6: Explaining Bureaucrats’ Resistance to EJ Reforms Introduction Educational Background and Capacity Personality Expertise and Discretion Agency Mission: Environmental Conservation and Public Health Serving and Protecting Industry Privilege and Perception of Environmental Inequality Neutrality and Colorblindness Racist Prejudice Ideas of Justice and Effectiveness Staff Strategies for Supporting Environmental Justice in This Context Conclusion 7: EJ Staff Members’ Definitions of Environmental Justice Introduction EJ Programs Deviating from Longstanding EJ Movement Priorities EJ Staff Members’ Definitions of EJ and Their Strategic Practices EJ Activists’ Definitions of EJ and Influence on Agency EJ Programs Popularizing the New Common Sense Structural Drivers of Neoliberal EJ Advocacy Conclusion 8: Conclusion Taking Stock Main Argument and Theoretical Contributions The Current Political Moment: A Silver Lining Recommendations Conclusion Appendix: Study Design and Research Methods Study Design Describing and Critically Evaluating Agencies’ EJ Efforts to Date Fieldwork: Interviews and Observations Data Analysis Representing the Data Notes Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Appendix References Index