Local Organizing for Environmental Conflict

Abstract

Grassroots groups continue to compose a large part of the environmental movement in the United States. In this article, I examine 41 attempts by grassroots groups to work with the Sierra Club to participate in local environmental conflicts. I argue that the difference between those groups who participated in a local conflict and those groups who were unable to participate in a conflict can be explained by the ability of a group to mobilize resources, gain access to information, create ties to other participants, control the framing of a conflict, and sustain these four factors across the duration of the conflict. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, I argue that having resources and information is useful for participation but not sufficient to guarantee participation. Ultimately, participation occurs when local groups have ties with other participants in the conflict and/or the ability to control the framing of the conflict.