<b>UNEQUAL ALLIES: PRESERVING LOCAL AUTONOMY IN GRASSROOTS–MAINSTREAM PARTNERSHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT</b>

<p dir="ltr">As environmental justice (EJ) becomes a more prominent issue in the United States, one way that community groups have increasingly sought to make their voices heard is by collaborating with more politically powerful, mainstream environmental organizations. However, grassroots EJ groups risk losing their self-determination, or autonomy, when partnering with more powerful actors who may not share all the same ideas as them. Local autonomy is a central goal of the Environmental Justice Movement (EJM) both as a normative good and because authentic participation and self-determination often lead to more acceptable and effective outcomes. While the loss of local autonomy is a well-known problem among activists and scholars alike, there are significant gaps in the literature regarding this challenge. In this dissertation, I explore the factors that allow coalitions between grassroots EJ groups and mainstream environmental organizations to overcome threats to local autonomy. To do this, I (1) offer a more comprehensive definition of autonomy that incorporates grassroots groups’ strategic decision-making and capacity to learn, and then operationalize this concept; (2) conduct a pilot study to examine factors beyond tactical and goal compatibility that support autonomy; (3) assess whether these or other factors contribute to autonomy in a broader range of partnerships; and (4) analyze a second case study with lower compatibility but high autonomy to more deeply evaluate whether such factors can help overcome incompatibility. I find that strategically considering partnering with compatible organizations (some of which may have employees that are connected to the community), intentionally focusing on shared goals, managing funds strategically, structuring grassroots organizations horizontally, and implementing safeguards that allow groups to exit a partnership can all help to preserve local autonomy. This project fills several gaps in the extant literature, including putting forth a more thorough definition of autonomy, exploring autonomy specifically in partnerships between grassroots EJ groups and mainstream organizations, and better understanding local autonomy maintenance by examining the various factors involved in this process. By advancing understandings of autonomy maintenance, the project also assists EJM actors in strategically navigating their partnerships to better mobilize EJ change.</p>