Relations between organized labor and environmental groups are typically                  characterized as adversarial, most often because of the specter of job loss invoked                  by industries facing environmental regulation. But, as Brian Obach shows, the two                  largest and most powerful social movements in the United States actually share a                  great deal of common ground. Unions and environmentalists have worked together on a                  number of issues, including workplace health and safety, environmental restoration,                  and globalization (as in the surprising solidarity of "Teamsters and Turtles" in the                  anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle).Labor and the Environmental Movement examines                  why, when, and how labor unions and environmental organizations either cooperate or                  come into conflict. By exploring the interorganizational dynamics that are crucial                  to cooperative efforts and presenting detailed studies of labor-environmental group                  coalition building from around the country (examining in detail examples from Maine,                  New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin), it provides insight into how these                  movements can be brought together to promote a just and sustainable society.Obach                  gives a brief history of relations between organized labor and environmental groups                  in the United States, explores how organizational learning can increase                  organizations' ability to work with others, and examines the crucial role played by                  "coalition brokers" who maintain links to both movements. He challenges research                  that attempts to explain inter-movement conflict on the basis of cultural                  distinctions between blue-collar workers and middle-class environmentalists,                  providing evidence of legal and structural constraints that better explain the                  organizational differences class-culture and new-social-movement theorists identify.                  The final chapter includes a model of the crucial determinants of cooperation and                  conflict that can serve as the basis for further study of inter-movement                  relations.

Labor and the Environmental Movement: The Quest for Common Ground PDF

The list of books you might like