Late Industrialism, Advocacy, and Law: Relays Toward Just Transition

Abstract

A landmark citizen’s lawsuit against Formosa Plastics Corporation in Seadrift, Texas resulted in funds for environmental monitoring, clean-up, research, and education. $20 million is set aside for “creating a cooperative that will revitalize depleted marine ecosystems and develop sustainable fishing, shrimping, and oyster harvesting.” It is an exciting project for many reasons, exemplifying what the work of “just transition” looks like on the ground. Work toward just transition in Seadrift will be multifaceted and extensive in both space and time. In what follows, we describe the contexts and contours of this work, highlighting developments before, within and after the Waterkeeper’s historic legal win, and the different kinds of work required at each stage. These sequential labors of law, we argue, are usefully conceptualized as a far-from-straightforward relay, with many runners, and many detours. Our goal is to convey the especially complex challenge of environmental advocacy and just transition in late industrial contexts.