NGOs, Communicative Labor, and the Work of Grassroots Representation

In this article, I develop a critical perspective on the communicative labor of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and on the omissions and silences created by a spatial, moralizing grassroots discourse. My qualitative case study of an environmental justice NGO provides a view into the daily practices of communicative labor, including critical processes of formation. In highlighting how members actively produce and mobilize images of a grassroots constituency, I challenge the tendency to treat NGOs as authentic representatives of already-formed constituencies.