The Bridge-Builder’s Dilemma: Constraint and Opportunity Among Labor-Environmental Brokers

• In Event: 50417 - Environmental Movements and Counter Movements

Abstract

Brokers between distinct social movements, such as the labor and environmental movements, often face what James Jasper (2004) calls the “bridge-builder’s dilemma”—they must find ways to build trust among powerful movement institutions with diverging goals and structurally differentiated interests. This paper expands upon Jasper’s concept through a study of Environmentalists for Full Employment (EFFE), a labor-environmental bridging organization active between 1975 and 1984. I argue that brokers may initially navigate the dilemma by building themselves a niche—identifying ways they can serve powerful incumbents in both movements and channeling their activities in those directions. But this can create a new variant of the problem, as a contradiction emerges between their niches—based around the short-term needs of movement leaders—and their goals—the long-term alignment of movements’ strategies and concerns. For some organizations, this situation leads to frustrations, surprising strategic innovations, or even their dissolution.

Author

• Jasper Cattell, Brown University