Paper Summary:

This research paper analyzes the effects of political opportunities and resources on environmental justice organization effectiveness. It emphasizes the role of networks as a resource with a direct influence on organizational effectiveness and also assesses the possible indirect effects of networks on organizational effectiveness through organizations' ability to acquire and mobilize resources. Furthermore, the paper synthesizes two predominant frameworks in the social movement literature-- political opportunity theory and resource mobilization theory -- by examining political resources as a contextual resource. The paper's analysis includes social network analysis, as well as statistical techniques such as factor analysis and regression. This paper includes a preamble, a survey, and an informed consent form.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Political Opportunity Theory
Resource Mobilization Theory
Methods
Data and Sample
Variable Measurement and Hypotheses
Dependent Variable
Independent Variables
Control Variables
Analytic Strategy
Strengths and Weaknesses
Conclusion
Appendix A: Principles of Environmental Justice
Appendix B: Survey
Appendix C: Informed Consent Form

From the Paper:

"The more recent literature represents an important development in the understanding of social movements, as organizations' ability to influence policy and achieve other desirable objectives should be dependent on the presentation of issues, local and national political opportunities, and the degree to which they have sufficient resources and the ability to mobilize those resources. Likewise, organizations' connections to other organizations within and outside the social movement likely will influence their success. Notably, these factors (which originated in Tarrow's work) reflect what have become the dominant theoretical approaches in social movement scholarship: framing, political opportunity theory, and resource mobilization theory."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aminzade, R. (1995). Between movement and party: The transformation of mid-nineteenth century French republicanism. In J.C. Jenkins and B. Klandermans (Eds.), The politics of social protest: Comparative perspectives on states and social movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Andrews, K.T. (1997). The impacts of social movements on the political process: The civil rights movement and black electoral politics in Mississippi. American Sociological Review, 62(5), 800-819.
• Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M. G., and Freeman, L. C. (2002). Ucinet 6 for windows: Software for social network analysis.
• Boykoff, J. (2007). Limiting dissent: The mechanisms of state repression in the USA. Social Movement Studies, 6(3), 281-310.
• Brown, P. (1995). Race, class, and environmental health: A review and systemization of the literature. Environmental Resources, 69, 15-30.

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