UC Santa Cruz

This dissertation traces the political evolution of California environmental justice activism since its origins in the 1980s. I argue that over time environmental justice activism has been increasingly institutionalized through the creation of formal movement organizations incorporated as non-profits. This process of institutionalization has been accompanied by professionalization and a growing engagement with routine political processes. These include participation in government advisory boards and stakeholder initiatives, lobbying, policy advocacy, voter education, and campaigns to put environmental justice advocates in elected or appointed government office. The growth of these approaches has been accompanied by a general decline in more oppositional interactions with the state and a reduced use of disruptive, “outsider” political tactics. However, this changing emphasis has not been adopted uniformly across California environmental justice activism, resulting in growing schisms within the movement.

Activists’ strategies and tactics have shifted both in response to the effects of their earlier activism and their own strategic decision-making. These changes also are influenced by broader political trends outside of activists’ control. Earlier, protest based activism as well as current policy advocacy have both resulted in important accomplishments accompanied by significant limitations. In the context of persistent structural racism and a capitalist economic system that has created vast divides between the “haves” and the “have nots,” the environmental justice vision of a clean, safe and equitable society remains an elusive goal.

The conclusions presented here are informed by in-depth interviews with 55 environmental justice activists across the state conducted between 2013 and 2015. They also draw on in-depth interviews with 39 San Joaquin Valley environmental justice activists conducted between 2007 and 2011. I also conducted policy and legal research to support my analysis of the two case studies presented here. One case study analyzes 28 years of environmental justice activism in the San Joaquin Valley’s Kettleman City, which hosts the largest hazardous waste landfill west of the Mississippi. The other analyzes environmental justice activists’ involvement with policy advocacy on the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and its ongoing implementation process. Finally, this work is informed by my own participation in California environmental justice activism.