From Environmental Justice Activist to Agency Staff: Implications for Agencies, Movement Organizations, and These Insider Allies

Background: The environmental justice (EJ) movement has struggled for several decades to transform public agencies to be more responsive to the needs and voices of disadvantaged communities. Recently, some environmental agencies have begun to hire EJ activists as staff to help change agency practices from within. There is need for research on this shift from outside activist to insider ally. Methods: This article draws from 15 semi-structured interviews conducted with former EJ activists now working in environmental agencies conducted over a 6-year period. Interviews focused on the benefits, tradeoffs, and dilemmas experienced through their transition process from the outside in. Results: Benefits of this shift from the outside in include the potential to influence agency culture and practices, to apply skills and networks gained as activists, and to support outside activists' access to agency resources and shape decision making. The challenges included being disparaged as biased by agency colleagues, becoming frustrated by the slow pace of bureaucratic change, and the potential for outside EJ activists to reduce the radical edge of their advocacy. Discussion: The tradeoffs experienced by the interviewees suggest that the entrance of former EJ activists into government service is having substantive impacts on the agencies but that these changes come at a personal and professional cost and with uneven results. Conclusion: This research on the phenomenon of the shift of EJ activists into environmental agencies has filled an important gap in critical EJ studies. Future research should focus on the impacts on EJ movements and the long-term impacts in the government agencies.