Research Publications

Over the past several decades in the United States (US), community-based nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit community action agencies (CAAs) have emerged as leaders in the hollow state, with a growing capacity for undertaking community sustainability projects (Agyeman, 2005; Portney and Berry, 2014; Portney and Cuttler, 2010). The dependence on CAAs to meet community sustainability goals reflects a profound shift away from large bureaucratic government agencies and toward more flexible, less rule-bound organizations (Osborne and Gaebler, 1993; Smith and Lipsky, 2009). CAAs represent an alternative market strategy to assist local municipalities with the provision of public goods and meeting community needs. Despite sporadic and often inadequate financial support, CAAs have assumed responsibility for many aspects of sustainable development, including residential weatherization, energy conservation, transportation, and the provision of housing and shelter to urban and rural communities (Agyeman and Evans, 2003; Marwell, 2009; Rubin, 2000). Some of these communities are and have been primarily homes for inner city African Americans, migrant farmworkers, and undocumented immigrants. A characteristic shared by all these communities has been the lack of government action and investment from outsiders to preserve or build sustainable communities.