Much research has been published on David's point about how environmental(ist) activists minimize cooptation through a coordinated division of labor among insiders and outsiders, or reformists and radicals. I review some of that research in a chapter on environmental activism of the newly-released ISA compendium, and synthesize some more in my dissertation. Please pardon my reluctant partaking in the self-promotion of scholars who are clearly much more senior than I am.
As a token (or offset!) of humility, I would only add the two most concise and convincing practitioner reflections--of environmental activists themselves--that come to my mind on cooptation vs. coordination: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5058409873018512617&hl=en# (2:48 minute film) http://blog.nature.org/2009/07/beef-amazon-deforestation-david-cleary/ The compendium chapter also consolidates a promising line of research on (un)activism that is very much conducive to professor Wandesforde-Smith's search for a rigorous, scholarly rendition of Johann Hari's concern about "pulling punches." Rodrigo G. Pinto Instructor / Instrutor Ph.D. Candidate / Doutorando Dept. of Government and Politics / Depto. de Governo e Política University of Maryland / Universidade de Maryland rpi...@gvpt.umd.edu (+1) (301) 768-8807 3140 Tydings Hall College Park, MD 20742; USA . >>> "David L. Levy" <david.l...@umb.edu> 3/21/2010 9:50 AM >>> To me, it's a complex question of strategy - (in the Gramsci/Machiavelli tradition of politics) - working with corporations brings resources, some legitimacy, access to and perhaps influence over corporate decision makers with huge power in their private decision making over our society's technological and environmental trajectory - and who hold virtual veto power over national policy. But this comes at a price, of course, the risks of cooptation.... Effective activists manage these tensions, and work in a broader network of groups, some more mainstream, some more radical. we explore this in a paper hot off the press about GRI (sorry for the self promotion! all is strategy, you see...) Levy, David L., Halina S. Brown, and Martin De Jong (2009). The Contested Politics of Corporate Governance: The Case of the Global Reporting Initiative. Business and Society. Download a pre-pub version here: http://www.faculty.umb.edu/david_levy/GRI09.doc cheers, David David Levy Professor, Department of Management University of Massachusetts, Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA http://www.faculty.umb.edu/david_levy/ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to gep-ed+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to gep-ed+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
